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[Boutique Beat]: Origin Woodwork

Digital inspiration in the most analog medium there is. Taking a tour of Origin Woodwork. Lots of quirky functionality inside.
Last updated: 2015-11-09


One nice thing about renting an apartment here is that most of them come fully furnished. It’s easy to float around in Shanghai, but then again, transience has its price. Landlords don’t play around when it comes to butt-ugly furniture. Most of my apartments here have come with the kind of faux-European fittings that make me feel like I should wear my hair in a perm and have grandchildren.

If you like Shanghai enough to lay down roots, or are in the market for some neat-looking tchotchkes, you should go check out Origin Woodwork on Wanping Lu. Origin Woodwork trades in minimalist wood furniture and accessories that will likely make your apartment feel a bit nicer than it does right now.



Owner Frances Lam opened Origin Woodwork five years ago. Formerly in advertising, and now working as an independent programmer for SmartPhone games, Lam says he was drawn to woodworking because of its sense of permanence. "The world of programming constantly changes. Every few years something new comes out and I have to learn about that. When you’re making something by hand, there’s a beauty in the patience, even in the frustration, in contrast to the rapid pace of programming. People have been making things from wood for hundreds of years, the process is timeless."

But while the process may be timeless, many of OWW’s designs take their cues from the digital world, dovetailing with Lam’s background in programming. One of the shop’s highlights is a puzzle board that mimics the pixelated worlds of Lam’s favorite video games growing up.



Lam’s latest chair is another interesting experiment with digital technology. Slide your iPhone into a slot in the back, and a face appears on the screen. As you move around in the chair, the face reacts with pained and angry expressions. “I wanted to play around with the idea of furniture having a personality,” says Lam.

Lam’s designs are minimal, functional, and multipurpose. He designed a set of “DB” chairs that can function as a chair, a bookcase, or can be Voltron-ed together to make a small table. “A lot of my customers usually just want what they see on our Taobao store, but I really like the idea of being able to give new life to these items through customizability,” says Lam.



Origin Woodwork offers a number of furniture items such as desks, chairs, tables, and bookcases. While not a custom furniture store per se, Lam says that all the larger pieces are customize-able, meaning that once you decide on what you like, you’ll be able to work together to personalize the design in a number of ways.

Lam’s creativity shines in OWW’s small items. Greeting you as you walk in is a pile of oak handlebars meant for your fixed gear bike. There are also candleholders, cloud-shaped clothing racks, and even a wooden rest for your iPad.



Wooden toys—horses, dinosaurs, pine trees, small clocks, and alphabet letters—roost about OWW’s bookshelves and desks. Lam says it’s to get back to a childhood he may have missed out on. “Growing up in Hong Kong, I played videogames from such an early age. I didn’t really play too much with toys. I think making toys is a way of experiencing that now.”

In a city where well-designed imports taunt you with high mark ups, Origin Woodwork’s items are very reasonably priced. Small items, like its toys and fixie handlebar, run from below 100 to 500rmb, with its handmade furniture usually coming in at around 2500rmb.

Go and check it out. The store’s weekly hours are subject to change, but it's open all weekend.

For a listing of Origin Woodwork click here.

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