This workshop offers each participant the opportunity to design and create a unique piece of ceramic furniture that bridges the gap between functional design and artistic creation.
At the heart of this experience, participants will explore or refine the coil-building technique: a free and intuitive approach to shaping that gives rise to organic and expressive forms.
Throughout the course, participants will be guided in the development of their project, from the initial idea to its completion, receiving support on the technical and artistic choices that will result in a distinctive and accomplished piece.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Design and create a piece of ceramic furniture using the coil-building technique
• Explore the possibilities of the coil method by combining it with other modeling techniques, such as slab building or stamping
• Develop a sculpture with organic and harmonious forms
• Experiment with decorating the piece through the use of materials and/or colors
• Learn to recognize and master the different stages of clay drying throughout the production process

The coil-building technique, rooted in ancient traditions, involves constructing a piece by layering coiled strips of clay, which are joined and smoothed to gradually reveal free-flowing, organic forms. Accessible and intuitive, this technique opens up a vast creative landscape, allowing for the creation of organic, fluid, or asymmetrical forms—shapes that are often impossible to achieve on the potter’s wheel.

Without resorting to complex tools, this approach invites you to slow down, refine your movements, and enter into a direct dialogue with the material. When creating a piece of furniture, special attention will be paid from the outset and throughout the process to the balance of forces, the stability of the structure, weight, and ergonomics.

Each project will thus receive individualized support to ensure its feasibility and formal coherence. In addition, other modeling techniques—pinching, slab building, and stamping—will be explored to expand creative possibilities and allow each participant to fully realize their vision.

Participants will thus be able to design and create, for example, the top of a side table or a seat, or even enhance their piece with relief decorations. Finally, the use of colored engobes will enhance and finish the surfaces, adding texture and depth to each creation.

Schedule

Day 1

Morning

• Welcome
• Group introduction and roundtable discussion
• Introduction to the world and work of Marguerite Porche

Afternoon

• Development of personal projects: sketches, form studies, and three-dimensional models (cardboard or 3D)

Day 2

Morning

• Presentation and discussion of each participant’s projects
• Introduction to various modeling techniques

Afternoon

• Preparation of clay rolls
• First steps in building the pieces

Day 3

Morning

• Continuing to assemble the pieces using the coil technique

Afternoon

• Work on assembling and joining the forms

Day 4

Morning

• Assembling pieces using the coil method
• Introduction to decoration techniques: collage or sgraffito

Afternoon

• Decorating pieces using collage or sgraffito
• Coloring using engobes

Day 5

Morning

• Finishing the pieces
• Time for discussion and feedback
• Certificate presentation
• Tidying up the workshop

Marguerite Porche

Based in Lyon, where she currently lives and works, Marguerite Porche has developed a ceramic practice that is at once instinctive, sensitive, and deeply contemporary. Born in 1990 in Toulon, on the Mediterranean coast, she initially intended to pursue a career in healthcare law before making a radical shift toward craftsmanship, choosing to restore a central role to the act of making, the material, and the passage of time.

It was in 2020 that she discovered ceramics, a revelation that transformed her relationship to both her work and her body. Entirely self-taught, she builds her craft through experimentation and develops an intuitive approach to clay, attentive to its physical reactions and its own inherent balance.

Throughout her journey at the Leopon and then Ter-ter studios, her artistic vision has taken shape. Tableware, table accessories, lighting, and small furniture: Marguerite Porche reinvents everyday objects through refined and sensitive forms, constantly exploring the possibilities offered by the material.

In January 2025, she opened her own studio in the heart of Lyon, designed as a space for creation, exhibition, and education. A member of the Ateliers d’Art de France, she continues today to pursue rigorous research into the precision of forms and the balance between functionality and emotion.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Supply of materials
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop-based work
• Active participation and experimentation by participants are encouraged

• Group and personalized progress tracking, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group presentation
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa