● Ten recipients of the Unique Airbnb Fund will be selected by an expert panel of design and style innovators
● Style Icon Billy Porter and Renowned Architecture Firm MVRDV Join Global Search for the Most Unique Liveable Spaces
Hong Kong – March 11, 2020 – Airbnb is searching for the world’s wildest home ideas – and has launched a $1 million fund to make them a reality. The Unique Airbnb Fund is the company’s first-ever $1 million program designed to find and help finance the most unconventional and unusual liveable spaces on the planet. Ten recipients of the Unique Airbnb Fund will be selected by an expert panel of design and style innovators, including Emmy®, Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning actor Billy Porter, Airbnb Superhost Kristie Wolfe, of the famed Big Idaho Potato Hotel, and global and cutting-edge architecture firm MVRDV.
Starting today, design enthusiasts can submit their proposals at airbnb.com/uniquefund. All submissions will be scored against criteria based on creativity, feasibility, sustainability and social good (more found here). Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the company’s three co-founders, the Unique Airbnb Fund is meant to enable anyone with an extraordinary house idea to design and build it into a reality, and share it with travelers all over the world.
Hong Kongers are eligible to participate! If you have a unique home idea, you are welcome to apply. Entries are not limited to listings that participants plan to build from scratch, the project can be at varying stages of completion – whether its an existing unique listing that needs an upgrade, a project in progress that needs additional funding for completion or a project in ideation phase that needs backing to get it off the ground and completed.
“The only thing better than pushing the boundaries of style, is empowering others to do the same,” says style icon, Billy Porter. “I’m thrilled to join Airbnb in this global search for the most outrageous, spectacular home ideas ever. I can’t wait to see these concepts developed by design lovers from around the world firsthand.”
“The Unique Airbnb Fund is a great initiative that makes hospitality exciting. It will empower people to create new spaces with daring, imaginative and fantastic architecture,” says MVRDV partner Fokke Moerel. “Personal wunderkammers will be created for guests to appreciate and be inspired by.”
A chance to enter the Unique Airbnb Fund is now open until 11:59am HKT on April 16, 2020. The ten winners will be selected by the panel of judges mentioned above by May 15, 2020. For more information, see the Official Rules.
Searches for unexpected and unique spaces – such as shepherds huts, windmills and tiny houses – have increased by nearly 70 percent over last year on Airbnb1. Some of the most booked listings of all time include domes, RVs, treehouses, and yurts across the world2.
Applicants can draw inspiration from a plethora of unconventional Airbnb stays, including:
1Based on internal Airbnb data measuring year-over-year growth of searches for unique listings as of February 2020 vs. 2019.
2Based on internal Airbnb data measuring the most booked unique listings as of February 2020.
**All Stays and Experiences referenced in this press release are intended purely to inspire and illustrate. Airbnb does not recommend or endorse specific Stays or Experience listings on the Airbnb platform.
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Margate City, New Jersey: An Elephant-Sized Stay on the Jersey Shore
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Nelson, New Zealand: The Boot – Fairytale Accommodation
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Boise, Idaho: Big Idaho Potato Hotel
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Bali, Indonesia: Camaya Bali Suboya – Magical Bamboo House
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Page, Arizona: Sheep Wagon at Shash Dine
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Redberth, UK: UFO Futuro styled Flying Saucer
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Raray, France: Cabane Spa Zen
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Rio Negro, Argentina: Beautiful Dome with Mountain Views
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Santa Catarina, Brazil: Cabana Floripa
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1Based on internal Airbnb data measuring year-over-year growth of searches for unique listings as of February 2020 vs. 2019.
2Based on internal Airbnb data measuring the most booked unique listings as of February 2020.
**All Stays and Experiences referenced in this press release are intended purely to inspire and illustrate. Airbnb does not recommend or endorse specific Stays or Experience listings on the Airbnb platform.
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About Airbnb
Airbnb is one of the world’s largest marketplaces for unique, authentic places to stay and things to do, offering over 7 million accommodations and 40,000 handcrafted activities, all powered by local hosts. An economic empowerment engine, Airbnb has helped millions of hospitality entrepreneurs monetize their spaces and their passions while keeping the financial benefits of tourism in their own communities. With more than half a billion guest arrivals to date, and accessible in 62 languages across 220+ countries and regions, Airbnb promotes people-to-people connection, community and trust around the world.
