Furniture making is an opportunity for architecture students to design free from the constraints of a building program or code. The form simply needs to provide a function. At the beginning of the design process to focus on traditional joinery, we will be working with “stick” lumber rather than sheet plywood. But student’s designs can encompass bending lumber, bending plywood, digital fabrication, metal work and contemporary methods of fabrication.

Many architects have tried their hand at furniture design, including H.H.Richardson, MacIntosh, Wright, Mies Van Der Rohe, Reitveld, Aalto, Saarinen, Le Corbusier, and Gerhy. We will review the history of furniture making with a visit to the Decorative Arts Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and have Cambridge artist/craftsman Mitch Ryerson show us his work and talk about design process. Students will learn traditional woodworking techniques beginning with the use of hand tools, power tools and finally woodworking machines.

Students will build a single piece of furniture of an original design that must support someone weighing 185 lbs. sitting on it, 12 inches or more off the ground made primarily of wood.

Students should expect to spend approximately 65 hours in the shop outside of class lecture time. Completion date of the furniture is Friday May 18 at 12 noon. A furniture exhibit is planned for this date. Three unexcused classes will lower the grade one letter grade.

Pre-registered architecture students will be given first priority to enroll. Twelve student maximum, no exceptions.

This is an opportunity to learn a craft. Rather than try to make the quintessential furniture piece, I prefer students build something tangible, understanding how it will go together and enjoying the process.