Airbnb Brazil

Mm18 Аrquitetura signs the head office of Аirbnb Бrazil with the proposal of brought a brazilian identity to the project
 
Signed by the brazilian office of architecture MM18 Arquitetura, from Brazil, that is led by the architects Mila Strauss and Marcos Paulo Caldeira, the head office of the Airbnb in Brazil was opened in 2015, in São Paulo (Brazil), respecting the culture of the countries where it operates. For the brazilian head office, MM18 proposed to brought a Brazilian identity to the project:
 
For this, the architects found inspiration in Burle Marx’s and Athos Bulcão’s design to the development of furniture and objects. They´ve invited brazilian designers to create objects with them: the carpets were designed by Brunno Jahara and fixtures in brass designed by Carol Gay. They already used wicker, which is a material used in basketry among native Brazilian, for the phone booths. The project won brazilian plants species too, as bromeliads and gibóias.

Airbnb is inspired by houses of hosts to create environments of meeting rooms. The materials used and decoration seek to follow to the letter what is there in the selected homes. For this, MM18 used techniques including set design to create these spaces. The Airbnb work method and philosophy reflect greatly on the work environment. The premise was to create various scenes for the employees to work, seeking to improve the quality of activities they carry out throughout the day. Airbnb enable people to work while sitting at a cafe, on couches, at the kitchen counter, at fixed or rotating workstations, in the yoga room and etc. Always in a comfortable and pleasant way. The idea is to make the employee feel at home.

For the common areas and events, MM18 created many areas of interaction – that was a key factor in the layout of spaces. The main common area is the lounge that can be used as dining room, for large meetings, workshops, lectures, happy hours or parties. These spaces have furniture that moves, allowing different types of use. For instance, the lounge can be set up with tables for dining, or with seats for lectures. The blinds are automated and can be in total blackout, or set as a more pleasant lighting depending on the characteristics of the event.

An Airbnb guideline is to use natural and raw materials, which very much coincides with brazilian architecture. So, the architects choose natural fibers and woods. The floor is made of cement and the acoustic liner is made of a conglomerate of wood.

Despite being an office with house elements, natural and rustic, there is a huge technology behind it. The screens, televisions, sound and T.I. are of the latest generation and with optimum performance and there is wi -fi in all environments. The acoustic performance indices are extremely efficient, avoiding echo and reverberation, as people work in open spaces. The lighting is basically LED, which reduces energy expenditure. The fact that there are blackout and blinds in most part of the windows also helps regulate sunlight. 

MM18 Arquitetura
Mila Strauss, Marcos Paulo Caldeira, Fabiane Sakai, Larissa Burke + Airbnb