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Home » News » IA&D Celebrates Graduate Students’ Studio D Projects

IA&D Celebrates Graduate Students’ Studio D Projects

Published January 14, 2021

William Abraira (left) and Hannah Smith (right) working in Studio D to complete their final projects. Photo by Dr. Marlo Ransdell.

Throughout the Fall 2020 semester, graduate students involved in the Furniture Design class within the Interior Architecture and Design Department’s Studio D program worked to complete their final furniture projects. Over an eight-week period, students combined their creativity and innovation skills to produce full-scale furniture pieces from a single sheet of 4’x8’ plywood. Dr. Marlo Ransdell, Director of Studio D, explains that students were also tasked with “employing gravity and/or friction held joinery with no hardware, and leaving minimal material waste.” Students faced the challenge of developing “flat pack” designs that could be easily shipped and assembled.

Olivia Perron (above) constructs her final project, utilizing gravity and friction as the only joinery methods. Photo by Dr. Marlo Ransdell.

Studio D is located in the Carnaghi Arts Building, which houses the departments wood shop. Graduate students first began conceptualizing their projects online, and then took to Studio D to construct their visions, where they have access to an array of traditional milling and woodworking tools. When asked to reflect back on her time within the Studio D program, Olivia Perron, MFA Student, explains that “In our program we spend a lot of our studio time designing hypothetical spaces on the computer. In this furniture design class, we worked with the laser cutter and the CNC to take 2D concepts from the computer and construct them into usable 3D objects and pieces of furniture. Ultimately, Studio D has allowed me to work through designs of actualized furniture in an environment that views mistakes as a valuable part of the learning process.”

To celebrate the success of these graduate students final Studio D designs, these projects will be on display at the William Johnson Gallery throughout January 2021.