Second-year Interior Design students are creating Shaker tables as part of their Furniture Design course taught by Profs. Natalie Ellis and Tracy Howard. Shaker furniture is known for its careful attention to proportion, form and function.
Under guided supervision, they are crafting the tables from start to finish in the Gibbs College of Architecture’s Creating_Making Lab. Once finished, the students have the opportunity to take them home if they purchase the wood used to produce their projects.
A student constructs a table.
“Most of the students come into this class with little or no furniture crafting experience; as interior designers, we are used to drawing out our ideals but most often, we aren’t building the object,” said Ellis. “The table encourages the students to see the material of wood as an artistic material source.”
The opportunity to construct a piece of furniture allows insight into the way that we conceive and document furniture designs.
“It’s one thing for you, as a designer, to pick out a table that matches your design, order it from a manufacturer, and put it into a space,” said Ashley Schlepp, a student in the course. “It’s an entirely different perspective when you get to experience the hard work, critical thinking, and elbow grease that go into making that table yourself.”
View a video feature exploring the students' work below.
A project designed by Gibbs College of Architecture faculty member Austin Lightle has been selected for BuildFest 2026, a national art and architecture festival held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York, on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival.
Two Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumni are helping shape recommendations that could influence affordable housing design and construction across Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma Libraries recently welcomed Carl Siegel as an Architecture Librarian and Archivist and Assistant Professor. In his role, Siegel supports students, faculty and staff across the Gibbs College of Architecture while also serving as archivist for the American School of Architecture Archives.
