Furniture Design

Furniture Design at RISD offers an intensive immersion in materials research and exploration in the process of making furniture and objects. Students investigate some of the most important questions facing designers today—from how to take advantage of changing technologies and new materials, to how to respond to variable economic conditions and evolving lifestyles.

Degree programs

A Furniture Design student hand-filing a block of wood

Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA)

In the Furniture Design BFA program you learn the principles and practice of the discipline and explore how to advance the social role of art and design as a responsible maker and citizen.

A Furniture Design work in progress along with concept drawings

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

The MFA in Furniture Design invites you to experiment with concepts, materials and form, as you build a unique point of view about furniture and create objects suited for one-of-a-kind, limited or mass production.

In the studio

Furniture Design student-made tent structures and light fixture

Student work

A sculpture by Furniture Design alum Asher Gillman

a black sculptural furniture piece by R I S D student Daphne Do

A table by Furniture Design alum Esi Hutchinson

A sculptural chair by Furniture Design graduate alum Hannim Song

Student work by Furniture Design graduate alum Manan Narang

A metal chair by Furniture Design alum Max Simon

An outdoor sculpture by Furniture Design alum Maxwell McInniss

A chair by Furniture Design alum Rebecca Li

Two connected chairs made collaboratively by Furniture Design alums Ruobing Chen and Jiayin Feng

A fabric chair by Furniture Design alum Ruthie Henry

A console table by Furniture Design graduate alum Todd Anderson

A sculptural chair by Furniture Design graduate alum Xinran Zheng

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Alumni

Furniture Design graduates go on to become thinker/makers who follow a variety of paths, from launching their own businesses making furniture and/or other objects to working as commercial product designers, teaching, running galleries and more.

A sculpture by artist and Furniture Design alum Tanya Aguiñiga

Tanya Aguiñiga MFA 05 — artist/maker

Raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Tanya Aguiñiga now lives in Los Angeles, where her work is informed by border experiences and infused with cross-cultural influences. She sees furniture as a way to translate emotions into 3D objects, tell stories through color and touch, and encourage people to reconsider the objects they use every day. Aguiñiga, whose work has been exhibited from Mexico City to Milan, actively works to combine furniture design and community activism, as seen in her 2018 project AMBOS, which featured artists collaborating in real time on either side of the US/Mexico border.

a kitchen featuring design work by Furniture Design alum-owned firm Rich, Brilliant, Willing

RBW — design studio

After graduating all in 2006, Theo Richardson, Charles Brill and Alex Williams repurposed their own last names to launch a NYC-based design studio called Rich Brilliant Willing (now RBW). Since then they have made a distinctive mark in the design world by creating desirable products that are both disarmingly simple and totally user-oriented. In doing so, they have also earned broad critical acclaim, winning the ICFF Best New Designers Award and making Forbes’ list of the top 30 Under 30 design talent.

An installation with work by Furniture Design alum Katie Stout

Katie Stout BFA 12 — artist/furniture designer

In her studio practice, Katie Stout creates playful furnishings that reflect her own personality and pop aesthetic. “I think it’s a reaction to growing up in a vanilla suburb where every other house was exactly the same,” says the furniture designer, who has shown work in Milan, Miami and NYC as well as on the cover of New York magazine. In 2015 the Brooklyn-based artist won the first Ellen’s Design Challenge TV competition, earning a reputation as a playful, audacious risk-taker who stands out on a national stage.