Airbnb has named the 100 winners of its recently-launched OMG! Fund design contest celebrating the “craziest and most unique” buildings submitted to the short-term rental giant from more than 20 countries across the world.
The contest awards $100,000 to each design as judged by a four-person panel that included design tastemaker Iris Apfel, Airbnb Superhost Kristie Wolfe, architect Koichi Takada, and the company’s VP of Experiential Bruce Vaughn.
“What an incredible journey it has been to be a part of the OMG! Fund judging process. There were so many inspiring stories and destinations that I had never heard of before that I’m now eager to visit,” Wolfe said at the announcement. “As a builder myself, I can’t wait to watch these ideas come to life. These are more than just places to spend the night — each one offers an entire experience!”
Common architectural designs attempted by the field of more than 10,000 entries include 1,214 treehouses and 389 suspended structures. A total of 509 mushroom-themed designs were submitted as well. Winners included a remote Swedish lighthouse and ceramic potter-inspired farm retreat and were reportedly all selected based on their “sustainable consideration and novel ways of offering immersive guest experience.”
Airbnb says to expect the contestant’s completed works to hit the service's special OMG! Category in time for summer 2023.
3 Comments
Not sure what I was expecting but this is ... weird. Seems like they're going for Instagrammability over genuine innovation.
To quote the great Nick Diaz
"I'm not surprised, mother fuckers".
I logged in just to give you a thumbs up.
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