These pieces were the culmination of the School of Architecture and Planning’s summer Digital Fabrication Furniture studio, where the students acted as designer, fabricator, and client. And in the end, they got to take their creations home. 

At the helm of this studio was Julia Hunt (BS Arch ’17), who returned to UB—her alma mater—three years ago to take on the dual roles of director of digital fabrication and clinical assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Planning. A decade earlier, when Hunt first arrived as a student, she already had an interest in fabrication, and she found UB’s hands-on culture of making to be a supportive environment for cultivating, refining, and expanding her skills. When she came back in 2023, she was eager to help shape the next generation of designers by creating new opportunities for them to learn how to use the advanced technologies housed in the School’s Fabrication Workshop.

That’s the inspiration behind Digital Fabrication Furniture, an intensive month-long course taken by 16 architecture students this year, both undergraduate and graduate. Beginning on June 8, the students spent seven hours each weekday inside Parker Hall, learning to operate sophisticated digital fabrication tools, including the CNC (computer numerical control) router and the 5-axis water jet cutter. Building on analog fabrication skills introduced in Wade Georgi’s Thinking Through Making course, the students learned to safely operate and program the machines and gained a deeper understanding of how digital fabrication works—knowledge that will continue to help them produce better designs.

During the first two weeks, the students completed a series of skill-building projects designed to build confidence and technical proficiency. Each selected two out of four projects that focused on different fabrication techniques.  

For cast or tray projects, students used basic operations like pocketing and profiling with the CNC router to either cast a mold or mill a positive into a tray. For mirror projects, they used the water-jet cutter to shape a piece of mirror to match a corresponding piece of foam or plywood, teaching them tolerance between the two machines as well as measuring and adjusting material thicknesses. The table exercise challenged the students to create a well-fitted lock-joint for a sheet of 2’x4’ plywood, performing joint tests to dial in the tolerance. Through this, they learned firsthand how careful preparation up front can save them significant time and effort later in post-processing.

Those projects all took place within the School’s impressive 11,000-square-foot Fabrication Workshop, a facility that includes woodworking and metalworking shops, assembly areas, and a digital FabLab. Alongside traditional equipment, the workshop houses advanced technologies including CNC routers, laser cutters, 3D printers, a Kuka robotic arm, and the 5-axis water jet cutter.

CNC routers are used to automate complex cutting operations, enabling precise and complex designs. The 5-axis water jet cutter utilizes a high-pressure stream of water mixed with an abrasive to cleanly cut through a variety of materials—like stone, wood, and glass—with both straight and tilted cuts. Hunt calls it “one of the coolest machines we have.” Its capabilities are so unique that groups outside the School—including UB’s engineering school Baja Car and Rocket Club teams along with some local companies—utilize the Fabrication Workshop for specialized projects. 

With a deeper understanding of the fabrication process, students not only learned how to operate each machine, but how to choose the right tool for the job. They gained a valuable lesson in craftsmanship too: although the tools can streamline production, successful projects still require finishing tasks, such as sanding, tab removal, and assembly. Hunt describes this understanding as “a good recognition of the process of making.”

That spirit of learning also extends beyond technical skills; Hunt intentionally fosters workshop culture that is welcoming, collaborative, and inclusive. “Historically, it could be a spot where women or people from varied backgrounds or nationalities aren’t welcome,” she shared. “So, I love that we have this welcome environment in the shop.”

That culture was evident in the summer studio. Rather than competing against one another, the students regularly shared materials, solved problems collaboratively, and coached each other through difficult concepts.  “Once people started getting the hang of it, they started teaching their classmates,” Hunt happily observed.

Midway through the course, the students took a well-earned break from the workshop for a behind-the-scenes look at Industrial Arts Studio in North Buffalo, where artists, designers, and tradespeople collaborate across the fields of art, decorative art, and architecture. The visit gave them the opportunity to meet the studio’s founders—UB alumni Casimir Garrison (BS Arch ’19), Quincy Koczka (MArch ’18), and Nicholas Wheeler (MArch ’21). Bringing sketches and early concepts for the final projects with them, the students got the chance to receive one-on-one feedback from the alumni, who graciously acted as design mentors helping them refine their ideas.

“Seeing the path those guys took to get here is eye opening for the students,” Hunt reflected. “It’s good for them to see that there are these other career routes. UB has already been preparing students to be effective in that in-between section of the field, and now we’re trying to hone it a little bit more through courses like this. It rounds out a portfolio.”

For their final project, the students were tasked with the design and fabrication of an original piece of furniture. Encouraging creativity, the parameters were completely open-ended; everything was on the proverbial table, from vanities to coat racks to mirrors to literal tables.  

“We’re doing furniture because it’s a good scale to test tolerances,” Hunt explained. “They do all these little tests to get things to fit first before going into the final furniture piece. The students get to keep the pieces, so they act as both client and designer.”

The students’ work also extended beyond fabrication. Each was required to create a set of clear assembly drawings á la IKEA instructions, documenting how their furniture goes together. The exercise reinforced essential skills in drafting, modeling, and documentation—skills that are easier to master on the scale of furniture before being applied to larger architectural projects at the building level.

For Mya Quinn (BS Arch ’27), the course was an opportunity to fuel her interest in interior design, expand her fabrication skills, and broaden the career paths available to her. It also taught her an important lesson in patience and perseverance. “My table piece was very hard to do,” she shared. “It involves 31 different pieces, so laying those out, keeping them on track, making sure that I was doing exactly what I needed to do—patience was a big part of it. And just exploring different patterns, shapes, and my chosen theme, which was curve.”

Tyler Brown (MArch ‘28) was focused on improving his joinery and tolerance-testing skills through a barbecue-inspired collection. “Every one of these projects incorporates a new idea that I was taught within this class, whether it be advancing my skills in Rhino through learning more about Grasshopper, or the use of the CNC machine for this table joinery,” he reflected.

The students’ final lesson was put to the test on the day of the Furniture Showcase: portability. All of their pieces needed to be safely transported from Parker Hall, into the Hayes Hall elevator, and up to the top floor.

Beginning in Fall 2026, Hunt’s vision of fabrication education at UB will take another major step forward with the launch of the Master of Science in Architecture - Design for Manufacturing and Construction program. This new concentration was created to meet the demand for skilled designers that can bridge the gap between design, architectural fabrication, and construction to manage and deliver complex projects at different scales.

“We have so many resources here,” Hunt noted. “I want them to be even more accessible to students and for people to feel comfortable in here so they can improve their skills and knowledge.”

Digital Fabrication Furniture students included: Jannat Ahmed, Safa Alawdi, Sanaa Alawdi, Bianca Fini, Dean Kelley, Anna Morley, Erik Nieves, Mya Quinn, Delaney Williams, Areej Aldar, Ofir Ben-Shimon, Ryan Bingham, Tyler Brown, Hannah Ikawa, Elena LaBuz, and Mason Montgomery.