The OMG! The fund competition will select 100 teams to design, supply and host a ‘breathtaking’ structure to provide overnight accommodation to customers using the online platform, which was founded 15 years ago and has an annual turnover of approximately $4.81 billion (£3.92 billion).
Professional and aspiring architects and designers are invited to come up with ‘offbeat’ concepts for the $10m (£8.14m) competition which will see the winning concepts listed in the website’s OMG! category comprising 30,000 unique vacation homes.
The call for concepts comes two years after Airbnb has dropped an earlier $100,000 (£81,000) competition for a series of “creative, quirky and unique” holiday cottages amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the announcement of lockdown measures across Europe and the US.
From the brief: ‘Let it be the next boot, UFO house Where a 6 ton potato, the first of its size at $10,000,000 OMG! Fund is looking for ideas from existing and aspiring designers, architects, do-it-yourselfers and makers around the world.
“The $10 million fund will help fund 100 of the craziest ideas, giving 100 people the opportunity to turn them into real Airbnb OMG!” category listings, which are Airbnb’s collection of the most unique homes.
“A hundred people with the craziest ideas will receive $100,000 each to make their creations possible and ultimately bookable. Ideas will be judged by a panel of experts based on their originality, feasibility, l experience that the space will provide to customers and their sustainability.
Founded in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb is an online marketplace for vacation homes and accommodations. Despite the impact on global travel caused by the pandemic, the website saw a 49% increase in bookings from 2019 to 2021.
The latest competition will select 100 winning concepts to nominate for delivery and inclusion in Airbnb’s OMG category, which features “more unexpected spaces that become the destinations themselves,” such as boot-shaped cabins and UFOs.
Entrants must own the land for their standalone proposal, have an existing Airbnb property in need of renovation, or have a renovation concept that could bring new rental space to the digital market.
Judges will include Airbnb “superhost” Kristie Wolfe, Koichi Takada, founder of Koichi Takada Architects, Bruce Vaughn, Airbnb’s vice president of experiential creative product, and century-old style icon Iris Apfel.
The winning teams, which will be announced in September, will receive a first phase payment of $33,334 (£25,800) by December 31 to complete their thematic development. The next payment of $33,333 will be made by January 31 once participants demonstrate completion of their “exterior and interior plan and/or structural design”.
A final payment of US$33,333 will be transferred once the winning teams provide “receipts, video, photos and explanations” demonstrating exterior and interior completion of the project. This amount will be paid before April 30.
Applications must be in English and applicants must be over the age of 18 and reside in Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada excluding the province of Quebec, Chile, mainland China, in Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom or United States.
Submissions will be judged 40% on creativity, 40% on feasibility, 10% on sustainability – including “incorporation of ecologically sustainable attributes and consideration of offsetting environmental concerns” – and 10% on the immersive experience.
The application deadline is July 22.
How to register
Visit the contest website for more information
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