How we live: at 'House Vision', Tokyo, Airbnb imagines the future of the home
Airbnb, the new way of travelling, is working with the architect Go Hasegawa for the curator and designer Kenya Hara’s 'House Vision' exhibition, opening in Tokyo next month. And with Airbnb being in the business of lodging, it weighs in heavily on an exploration of 'the future of the home'.
'At Airbnb, we are always looking at what the future looks like and enjoy challenging the way we currently think about living,' says Joe Gebbia, the company's co-founder and chief product officer. 'Working with Go gave us the opportunity to bring these ideas to life, connecting our values of design and finding new ways to help communities.'
With an aging population and growing urbanisation, many of Japan’s rural villages are left diminished, which not only leads to financial hardships for the communities, but an abandonment of traditions and trade. So to address this the building, entitled Yoshino Sugi No Ie (or, Yoshino Cedar House), is created with provenance in mind – made with local materials by members of the local community.
'Through inheriting the modesty and the simplicity of the traditional Japanese old house, I hope Yoshino Sugi No Ie is going to not only harmonise well with local houses of Yoshino, but also will become a place to experience Japanese housing space for foreign tourists who visit this region,' Hasegawa notes.
Yoshino Sugi No Ie aims to be more than an exhibition piece; after being shown in Tokyo, the build will move to a permanent location in the town of Yoshino itself. The idea is for the community to share and experience the structure; thus, it’s 'going back to its place of birth to bring the vision to life'.
INFORMATION
House Vision’ runs from 30 July until 28 August. For more information, visit the ’House Vision’ website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Daniel Scheffler is a storyteller for The New York Times and others. He has a travel podcast with iHeart Media called Everywhere and a Substack newsletter, Withoutmaps, where he shares all his wild ways. He lives in New York with his husband and their pup.
-
Don’t Move, Improve 2024: London’s bold, bright and boutique home renovations
Don’t Move, Improve 2024 reveals its shortlist, with 16 home designs competing for the top spot, to be announced in May
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Perfumer H has bottled the scent of dandelions blowing in the wind
Perfumer H has debuted a new fragrance for spring, called Dandelion. Lyn Harris tells Wallpaper* about the process of its creation
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
The best fashion moments at Milan Design Week 2024
Scarlett Conlon discovers the moments fashion met design at Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week 2024, as Loewe, Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Prada and more staged intriguing presentations and launches across the city
By Scarlett Conlon Published
-
Modern Japanese houses inspiring minimalism and avant-garde living
We tour the best Japanese architecture and modern Japanese houses designed by international and local architects that open up possibilities for all types of lifestyle, from minimalist to communal in Japanese architecture.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
An Aoyama House exemplifies a synergetic architect and client relationship
A client’s faith in his architect pays dividends in Aoyama House; a light-filled, effortlessly elegant Tokyo home
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Tokyo home Le49Ⅱ brings together drama, domestic luxury and hybrid working habits
Le49Ⅱ by Japanese architects Apollo is a Tokyo home for a young family with hybrid working habits
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Takeshi Ikeuchi’s kei truck is a minimalist Japanese mobile showroom
Takeshi Ikeuchi's kei truck design is a Japanese timber specialist’s minimalist mobile showroom
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Nekoyacho Bldg is a Hiroshima office on a crossroads of 'food, work and entertainment'
Nekoyacho Bldg has been designed by Suppose Design Office as a 21st century workspace in Hiroshima, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Heatherwick Studio’s Azabudai Hills district launches as Tokyo’s newest city-in-a-city
Tokyo welcomes the Azabudai Hills district, designed by Heatherwick Studio and constructed as a city-in-a-city after over three decades of planning
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Toranomon Hills Station by OMA adds dynamism to the Tokyo skyline
Toranomon Hills Station is OMA's first tower in Tokyo - as well as a project expanding and evolving the high rise typology
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Terunobu Fujimori’s Kodomari Fuji guest house features a roof lined with cherry trees
Cherry trees line the roof at Kodomari Fuji, Terunobu Fujimori's first accommodation facility design, a private guest house in Japan
By Joanna Kawecki Published