Make a Chair – in a week (in English)

From design to finished chair

In this course, you design and build your own chair within one week during the summer holiday. You work with a structured design approach and clear material and construction principles, while being introduced to basic technical drawing, including elevations and cutting plans. This helps you translate your ideas into a buildable object.

Throughout the week, you gain practical knowledge of material behaviour, construction logic, and efficient making methods. You also learn how to balance ambition with the realities of material, tools, and time when developing your design. The teacher supports you throughout the process, helping you refine your ideas and make informed decisions so your project remains both personal and achievable.

By the end of the week, you leave with a chair you have designed and built yourself, a strong foundation in essential woodworking skills – from design and material preparation to assembly and finishing – and the confidence to continue developing and building your own projects independently.

Who can participate?

The course is for anyone who would like to work through the full process of designing and building their own chair while gaining practical knowledge of woodworking, materials, and construction methods.

How is the course structured?

The course combines design work and practical workshop training. You begin by sketching, designing, and planning your chair while learning the basics of technical drawing. From there, you move into the workshop, where you work with rough solid wood and learn how to prepare the material by flattening, squaring, and bringing each part to dimension.

Using tools such as the jointer, planer, table saw, router, and sander, you cut and assemble your chair using joinery, with focus on accuracy, workflow, and clean execution. In the final stage, you refine the chair by adjusting shapes, preparing surfaces, and applying a finish.

Designing a chair within one week means working with clear and realistic parameters. The teacher guides you throughout the process, helping you refine your design, introduce appropriate constraints when needed, and make informed decisions so your project remains both personal and achievable.