The name Youxi means ‘to have happiness’ in Chinese, and that’s the main driving force behind the upcycled wood creations of designer Dalong. Dalong and his team collect stray, old wood and tree branches from construction sites and the aftermath of Shanghai landscaping projects. While creating their ensemble of recycled wood products, the Youxi team strive to make as little alterations to preserve the natural look and curves of each piece of salvaged wood. Most of Youxi’s wood craft is made from the aromatic Camphor wood and its smell will bring a smile to anyone curious enough to have a sniff.

Shanghai’s Growth Drives a Constant Source of Salvaged Wood

Shanghai is growing and it has been for quite some time. Not only does Shanghai have the largest population of any city in China, it’s also the largest city on the planet. In fact, according to the World Population Review, Shanghai is heading towards a total population of 50 million by the year 2050. Shanghai’s population growth naturally leads to a lot of construction; this increase in urban development means there’s a growing amount of waste produced.

Youxi has seen this as an opportunity to source recycled wood for their projects. Although Youxi’s upcycled creations are quite small in size, we hope that others will follow their lead in the future to reduce Shanghai’s waste.

Youxi’s recycled wood products a hit at Shanghai Design Week

Youxi took to last month’s Shanghai Design Week, bringing with him a range of upcycled goodies and wood products. It didn’t take long for people to swarm to their booth and take photos of the recycled wood in their final form. Salvaged branches and wood stumps fashioned into lamps; jewelry boxes with tree stump lids; candle holders; keychains and even tree stump coasters!

At the end of the three day event, Youxi had nearly sold out their entire stock, proving that old wood can be salvaged and used to create beautiful things.

This language is shared by these two things – and I think it’s unique to these two things.

Youxi’s Hayao Miyazaki Music Box Set features Spirited Away music and Carrying You from Castle in the Sky.

The whole process of upcycling is right in line with the settings created in Miyazaki’s work: Old fantasy environments with unexplainable tehnology and magic.