Airbnb leads us towards a lackluster uniformity. What can be done to reverse it?

Kyle Chayka has a theory: writing for the Edge in 2016, he laments the homogenization of Airbnb spaces around the world, with each property a facsimile of another although no one overtly dictates the visual standards to be followed.

Chayka interviewed the German co-founder of Third Wave, a Berlin-based strategy consultancy. Igor Schwartzmann, the co-founder, often turns to another app, Foursquare, for recommendations on his travels, but he’s noticed something odd in recent years: “Every cafe looks the same.”

Chayka quotes Schwartzmann: “Digital platforms like Foursquare produce ‘a harmonization of tastes’ around the world, says Schwarzmann. “It forces you to go back to the same place all over again.”

The same thing that’s happening with Foursquare is also happening with Airbnb, says Chayka. He proposes the neologism “AirSpace” to define “the realm of coffee shops, bars, startup offices and co-live/work spaces that share the same characteristics everywhere you go: a wealth of symbols of comfort and quality, at least to some extent”. knowledgeable mindset. »

AirSpace contains, based on Chayka’s observations, “minimalist furniture. Reclaimed wood. Industrial lighting. cortados. Fast Internet.

Chayka says AirSpace properties give travelers the illusion of being in the same place as their point of origin, no matter where in the world you are. “Changing locations can be as painless as reloading a website. You may not even realize you’re not where you started,” he wrote.

Chayka also cites legendary architect Rem Koolhas whose 1995 book S, M, L, XL contains the “prophetic” essay “The generic city”: “Is the contemporary city like the contemporary airport — ‘all the same’? he asks. “What if this seemingly accidental – and usually regretted – homogenization was an intentional process, a conscious movement from difference to sameness?”

Airbnb seems to be aware of the criticism and responding to it, it seems, because it’s been about six years since Chayka wrote his article and times have changed.

Currently, Airbnb listings include OMG!, a group of residences that appear to be out of this world (signified by a little UFO sign at the top of the menu), as well as more traditional offerings such as beach houses, cabins, beds and breakfast places and iconic cities. The slogan is no longer “belong anywherevisible on the Airbnb homepage.

Chayka writes that he actually likes the AirSpace aesthetic, which he says he finds “tasteful, clean, modern”. Yet he is also disturbed because “it is difficult to identify with something so empty in his heart”.

Chayka says our options are limited in the face of ramping up airspace. He writes: “The first is to discover ‘the benefits of vacuum’, as Koolhaas writes, to become connoisseur of ‘color variations in the fluorescent lighting of an office building just before sunset, the intricacies slightly different whites of an illuminated sign at night.'”

He also suggests that people are looking for the real local rather than the homogenized pseudo-authentic Airbnb experience: “a simple personal choice to invest more in the local than the mobile – opting for the flawed community bed & breakfast instead than the temporary, spotless apartment. It’s important to seek out the difference, especially when technology makes it so easily avoidable.”

Chayka ends her essay ominously, warning people against accepting a deceptively universal but reassuring aesthetic offered by sterile Airbnb spaces: “Once you take the place of the people who live there, you can direct you to their favorite cafes or workspaces, which are instantly recognizable as they resemble the apartment you live in.

“You’ll probably like it. You might think, ‘That’s good, I’m comfortable.’ And then you can move on to the next one, with just one click.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies