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.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to announce the promotion of Ph.D. student Rafael Hernandez to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Gibbs College of Architecture Assistant Professor Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design, has co-authored a new book chapter with Josh Newton and Andrew Born, published in De Gruyter Handbook of the Geographies of Race.
Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) alumni Trey Ingram, AICP recently spoke with current PLAD student and graduate media assistant Molly Strobel to share his experiences with the Regional and City Planning program and current work with the Toyota Mobility Foundation.
