Woodwork
Carpentry workshops
At FICA Oficina Criativa, woodworking has been a core practice for many years. In our woodworking workshops in Lisbon, you'll work with wood in a practical way, learn manual techniques and explore the use of tools, developing pieces with precision and care.
Woodworking workshops are held regularly, lasting between 3 and 9 hours and can take place in one or more sessions. Some workshops are repeated on a monthly basis. All materials and tools are included and no previous experience is necessary, except where indicated.
There are workshops focused on basic techniques, others on details and fittings, some on hand sculpture and even workshops on building furniture with a machine. Each session is an opportunity to experiment, learn and create concrete projects with your own hand.
How to choose a carpentry workshop
Our woodworking workshops allow you to try out different ways of working with wood. Some introduce basic techniques and the use of hand tools, perfect for beginners. Others focus on precision and detail, such as fittings or marquetry, while there are workshops dedicated to carving pieces or building furniture using a chainsaw. Each type offers different experiences, adapted to different interests.
Below, we've organized the workshops by type to help you find the one that best suits what you're looking for.
All workshops can be attended individually, with no need for sequence or previous experience.
Carpentry workshops in Lisbon
Here you'll find the woodworking workshops we run at FICA Oficina Criativa in Lisbon. Each proposal takes its own approach to wood, from the use of hand tools to the construction of objects or the exploration of traditional techniques. You can check the duration, format, what's included and find out which workshop best suits the type of experience you're looking for.
1 session of 3 hours
FLASH WORKSHOP Carpentry
The Flash Woodworking Workshop is one of our main woodworking workshops. It's an introductory workshop, ideal as a first contact with wood and with no previous experience necessary. You'll learn the basic principles of woodworking, the essential tools and the logic of working in the workshop, while building a pre-defined small-scale piece.
What techniques will you learn?
You will learn basic joinery techniques, focusing on the use of hand tools such as saws and chisels, including cutting, roughing and simple fitting.
What is the aim of the workshop?
You'll learn the fundamental principles of carpentry, understanding how wood is worked until an object is built. After an introduction to tools, materials and working methods, you'll apply this knowledge in a practical exercise, building a simple piece to scale by hand. This exercise allows you to experience the whole process: observing, measuring, cutting and assembling.
Will you take the piece at the end?
The piece you build will be yours and you can take it with you at the end.
Workshop duration
1 session of 3 hours
Workshop price
55€ (material included)
3 sessions of 3 hours
Woodworking Workshop
The Carpentry Workshop is a more complete approach to carpentry, ideal for those who want to deepen their first contact with this craft. Over the course of several sessions, you'll learn how to transform wood into a useful object - a pre-defined bench - by exploring basic joinery techniques and developing a more solid understanding of the process.
What techniques will you learn?
You'll learn basic joinery techniques, including preparation, measuring, marking, hand cutting and fitting. It works as a complete introductory exercise in joinery, allowing you to consolidate your knowledge.
What is the aim of the workshop?
You will learn to interpret and plan a woodworking project, understanding the different stages of the process. Throughout the sessions, you'll develop practical cutting and fitting exercises, which will then be applied to the construction of an object designed by us.
Will you take the piece at the end?
The bench you build during the workshop will be yours and you can take it with you at the end of the last session.
Workshop duration
3 sessions of 3 hours
Workshop price
155€ (material included)
1 session of 4 hours
WORKSHOP Spoon Carving
The Spoon Carving workshop is an introduction to wood carving, focusing on the creation of a spoon. It's a practical and accessible format, ideal for those who want to explore wood in a more direct and manual way, as well as using some tools that we don't use in other workshops.
What techniques will you learn?
You will learn wood carving techniques, focusing on the use of tools such as gouges and carving knives, including roughing, carving and finishing.
What is the aim of the workshop?
You'll learn how to turn a block of wood into a spoon, understanding the properties of wood and how they influence the working process. Throughout the workshop, you'll develop the piece by making decisions about shape, proportion and ergonomics. This process allows you to experience a freer and more intuitive approach to woodworking, centered on the direct relationship with the material.
Will you take the piece at the end?
The spoon you develop will be yours and you can take it with you at the end of the workshop.
Workshop duration
1 session of 4 hours
Workshop price
60€ (material included)
1 session of 7:30 hours
Enzo Mari Workshop
The Enzo Mari Workshop is a furniture construction workshop, in this case Sedia 1, based on the project “Self-improvement” by the Italian designer. It's a practical introduction to building a piece of furniture, ideal for beginners who want to work on a larger scale.
What techniques will you learn?
As well as interpreting the assembly project devised by Enzo Mari, you'll measure and mark the wood. Handle the miter saw for the cuts, but also sand and assemble.
What is the aim of the workshop?
You'll learn how to interpret a carpentry project and turn it into a real object. During the workshop, you'll calculate, measure, cut and assemble all the elements needed to build the Sedia 1 chair.
This process allows you to understand the logic of construction, from the reading of the project to the final execution, exploring repetition and assembly.
Will you take the piece at the end?
The chair you build will be yours and you can take it with you at the end of the session.
Workshop duration
1 session of 7:30 hours (with 1 hour break)
Workshop price
170€ (material included)
3 sessions of 3 hours
WORKSHOP Fittings in Joinery
The Joinery Workshop focuses on traditional wood connections, an ancient technique that continues to form the basis of many structures, furniture and utility objects. It is suitable for beginners as well as those who have already had contact with tools but want to delve deeper into joinery.
What techniques will you learn?
You'll work on different types of traditional fittings, such as drill and tenon, T-fork and, depending on the pace, an additional fitting, the castle and half timber, using hand tools.
What is the aim of the workshop?
Understand the behavior of wood as a structural material and how fittings contribute to the strength and durability of pieces. Throughout the sessions, principles of measurement, marking and execution are explored, applied to the construction of different fittings. The practical work allows you to consolidate precision, method and control in the use of hand tools, through the execution of various examples.
Do you take the pieces at the end?
The fittings you make during the workshop will be yours and you can take them with you at the end.
Workshop duration
3 sessions of 3 hours
Workshop price
160€ (material included)
3 sessions of 3 hours
Carpentry Workshop
The Marquetry Workshop is an introduction to a decorative technique based on cutting and combining wood veneers, creating compositions rich in color, texture and detail. Present in period furniture and objets d'art, it continues to stand out for its precision and the results it achieves with simple materials.
What techniques will you learn?
You will learn veneer cutting techniques, wood selection, composition and assembly, as well as gluing and finishing processes.
What is the aim of the workshop?
Explore marquetry as a visual language and construction technique, understanding how different woods can be combined to create an image.
Over the course of the sessions, each participant develops a composition based on bird models, working on drawing, cutting out and assembling the various elements. The process allows them to develop manual precision and sensitivity in choosing materials and patterns.
Will you take the piece at the end?
The piece you develop will be yours and you can take it with you at the end of the workshop.
Workshop duration
3 sessions of 3 hours
Workshop price
155€ (material included)
The workshop information on this page is subject to change and should be confirmed on the workshop page.
All the carpentry workshops scheduled on this page take place at our workshop in Lisbon, at Rua Bernardo Lima 10C.
What they say about woodworking workshops
Here are some opinions from participants who have already attended woodworking workshops at FICA
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Clara Bento
I did the carpentry workshop (3 sessions) and I couldn't have been happier with the hours I spent in this wonderful place. Gonçalo is spectacular. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know woodworking and work hard! 💪
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Cristina D'Eça Leal
I really enjoyed the spoon carving workshop. The space is very welcoming, everyone is very friendly and the structure of the training is very well thought out. Each trainee brought their own spoon as a trophy and we learned how to use the tools, as well as the step-by-step process from designing to carving the spoon itself. The display of unconventional spoons at the beginning was also very inspiring. I highly recommend it.
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Diogo Martins
I loved the Carpentry course, from the friendliness of all the workers to the quality materials they provide, I also want to give a special thanks to the instructor Gonçalo for being a great teacher, I will come back to learn more!
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Marianne
I took part in the Flash Workshop and then the Carpentry Course, both given by Gonçalo. It was spectacular! The space is inspiring, the atmosphere super relaxed, and I left with two pieces I'm very proud of 😊 I'll definitely be back.
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Paulo Vieira
We did the Enzo Mari workshop and it was spectacular. You don't even notice the time passing. At the end you get the satisfaction of a chair you've built yourself.
Upcoming WORKshops
April
May
June
More carpentry workshops to be announced soon
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Other workshops?
As well as carpentry, we have workshops in our Lisbon workshop on other crafts and techniques, such as ceramics e screen printing
Frequently Asked Questions and Conditions of Participation in Carpentry Workshops
Frequently asked questions about FICA Oficina Criativa's woodworking workshops, including materials included, experience required or the most suitable workshop.
Are the materials included in the carpentry workshops?
Yes, the price of the carpentry workshops includes all the materials needed for the workshop.
Do you need experience to take part in a carpentry workshop?
No. The woodworking workshops are designed for beginners and no previous experience or knowledge is required. If there are any workshops that require experience, this information will be indicated in the description.
How do I choose the right workshop for me?
The Flash Carpentry Workshop is a short introductory workshop where you create a pre-defined piece to scale by hand, with simple fittings. It serves as an introduction to the world of carpentry and gives you the chance to try out some hand tools such as saws, chisels and rasps.
In the Carpentry Workshop, you explore and practice more, because the object is also bigger. The pre-defined piece to be built in this workshop is a bench.
At Spoon Carving, you can learn to work with other woodworking hand tools specifically designed for carving, such as the gouge. In this workshop, the aim is to make a wooden spoon.
In the Enzo Mari Workshop, you build the iconic Sedia 1 chair. As we start from whole wooden profiles, unlike the other workshops, here we use the electric miter saw to cut to the desired dimensions.
At the end, do I get to take the piece I created?
Yes, at the end of the workshop, you can take the piece you've created with you. In all the woodworking workshops - flash woodworking workshop, woodworking workshop, spoon carving workshop, enzo mari workshop, fittings workshop and marquetry workshop - you can take the piece away at the end of the session.
For questions about registration, payments or cancellations, please consult the conditions on each workshop page and at terms and conditions