Furniture Shops and Studios

Furniture makers are creatives who want to make sculptural and functional objects that last. In this self-directed program, you’ll get hands-on in our wonderfully noisy shops, exploring carpentry, woodworking, and making technologies like CNC (computer numerical control) machines.

📍1111 8th St., upper level

Media Gallery

Student POV: Anhelina Rozum

360° view of Furniture Shop & Fabrication Studios | California College of the Arts

A student sketches on large pieces of paper on a wooden table. In the background, another student tapes and measures a project.

Five students play with hand-made marimas around a wooden table in the Bench Room.

Ido Yoshimoto kneels to demonstrate chainsaw techniques on a wooden stump for two students on the Backlot.

About BFA Furniture

Think with your hands

🪑 About BFA Furniture

This program sees making as a design process. You’ll get your hands on natural materials like wood and metal and embrace the slowness of production, focusing on care as much as craft, function as much as form. Technique- and studio-focused classes are both part of the educational experience, as well as an emphasis on sustainable production and sourcing.

Apprentice-style teaching

Our expert faculty become lifelong mentors from the first moment you step into the Bench Room to after graduation. They’re in the studio as much as you are, helping you bring your designs to life. We also welcome visiting professors twice a year, bringing some of the most forward-thinking artists, designers, and woodworking professionals—like Katie Gong and Ido Yoshimoto—to teach you the tricks of their trades.

🛠️ Think with your hands

In our specialized facilities, you’ll gain experience with industrial machinery like table saws and drill presses, traditional techniques like joinery and steam bending, and even try out technological tools like CNC routers. One student made molds to form a curved plywood coffee table, and a class repurposed drought-damaged trees with chainsaws.

Rapid Prototyping Studio

The Rapid Prototyping Studio is a prototyping and fabrication space equipped with computerized machinery, including five laser cutters, over forty 3D printers, a vinyl cutter, and a three-axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) router. After a shop orientation, you’ll be able to experiment with etching, cutting, and building with a variety of materials, including acrylic, cardboard, cloth, fabric, glass, masonite, paper, plastic, plywood, rubber, stone, and wood.