LSU Students Display Full-Scale Chairs at Boyce Gallery
Fifteen landscape architecture students show functional seating they designed and built as a semester-long project.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Landscaping
Fourth-year LSU landscape architecture students are displaying full-scale functional chairs they designed and built in Boyce Gallery inside Julian T. White Hall. The chairs are on view in the gallery until Thursday.
Why it matters
The project moved beyond theoretical design exercises to produce a public-facing, functional seating piece, giving the community a direct look at student work. Public participation through a people's choice vote gives visitors a role in evaluating the designs.
Fifteen students in the fourth-year class each built a chair, and each of the 15 chairs looks completely different. The people's choice award vote for community members ends Tuesday, and the winner has not yet been announced.
The players
Louisiana State University
LSU is a public research university in Baton Rouge whose landscape architecture and architecture programs produced the student chairs.
Boyce Gallery
Boyce Gallery is the exhibition space in Julian T. White Hall on the LSU campus where the chairs are on display.
The details
Students sketched original designs, received professor feedback, and produced construction drawings and test models before building full-scale chairs with guidance from experienced wood craftsmen. Professional jurors including architects, civil engineers and art historians evaluated the models.
Timeline
Tuesday: People's choice award voting ends.
Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Students are present in the gallery to answer questions about their chair projects.
The chairs remain installed in the gallery until Thursday.
Seasonal Patterns
The project extends the LSU studio curriculum by moving students from drawings and models to building full-scale functional seating. Its public display follows the program's five-year structure, which places fourth-year students at the stage of producing finished work.
Baton Rouge residents can view the chairs in Boyce Gallery through Thursday and vote in the people's choice award before Tuesday's close. Attending Thursday's 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. window lets visitors ask students about their design process directly.
The takeaway
Community engagement with student design work can turn a classroom assignment into public feedback. Visiting the gallery before Thursday offers a firsthand look at how functional furniture is designed and built.
Further reading
For more on outdoor design projects, explore Landscaping coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Reveille.
