Yoshino Cedar House

Small rural villages in Japan are facing a fast decline due, in part, to the effects of an ageing population and a steady increase in urbanisation. With this decline in population comes not only financial hardship for these areas but also the abandonment of time worn traditions and skills. Enter Samara, Airbnb's new design studio and the launch of their 'house of the future' prototype, Yoshino Cedar House. With the aim of proving the concept of a house being so much more than just a physical space, Cedar House is designed around the notion that human beings seek community.

Conceived as part of Kenya Hara’s House Vision exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, the house has been designed in collaboration with Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa for the rural village of Yoshino and its community. The design ethos of Cedar House centres upon the way in which architecture can promote new relationships between hosts and their guests, pushing beyond the current ideology of domesticity and ownership of a space and while also encouraging ideas being brought into a home and shared by guests and hosts alike.

From the locally-milled wood used to build the home, to the communal dining table and the locally caught fish served at each meal, Cedar House is a dwelling that considers the whole community, not just the individual host. All proceeds from guest bookings made through Airbnb going towards the community of Yoshino and all who live there.