News aggregator

(Emma G. Schaible / Fourth Estate)

BY ISABELLA PEARLSTEIN, STAFF WRITER

As the Mason Nation experienced its first snow event of 2026, George Mason Furniture, an anonymous group of student builders, utilized their construction skills on a new medium: the igloo.

The igloo was built on Monday, Jan. 26 and situated on the Johnson Center East Plaza. It is large enough for people to walk inside. 

“[The igloo took] about 10 hours of work with four people not including breaks,” GMU Furniture said. 

Just across the way, another structure is being constructed in Wilkins Plaza in between the Johnson Center and Horizon Hall. According to GMU Furniture, “[the other structure] is a tower which is currently a work in progress.” 

(Emma G. Schaible / Fourth Estate)

According to GMU Furniture’s Instagram caption, the igloo is for sale, “Starting at $100!”

Several students took delight in seeing the igloo’s craftsmanship. Aiyana Pipkins, an elementary education major, shared her first impression. 

“I only saw the pictures of it because my friends showed it to me, and I just thought it was super cool seeing it now,” she said.

Camille Sergeon, a music major, said she “come[s] back every single day because it’s so beautiful. I love it.” 

Sergeon has also been in inside the igloo. “It’s surprisingly a lot warmer [in there] than it is out here,” she said.

“I think it’s very well done. It’s spacious. It’s beautiful,” Chelsea Reyes, a nursing major, said.

This is not the first eye-catching project GMU furniture has been behind. Last semester around Halloween, students may have noticed a large wood and hardboard pumpkin that disappeared and reappeared a few times at Wilkins Plaza. GMU Furniture chronicled the story of the “Big Pumpkin” on an Instagram Post with the caption, “The GMU anti-fun department will never diminish our Halloween spirit because [the] big pumpkin never [dies].”

(Andrew T. Yarbrough / Fourth Estate)

According to GMU Furniture, they “don’t really plan out projects too far in advance. Someone usually has an idea and we start making it within a day or two.” 

According to one of its members, GMU Furniture started around two-and-half years ago.

“The original goal was to make some money, but our revenue makes us look like a non-profit. Our company runs on lack of sleep and convincing our friends to do manual labor for free,” GMU Furniture said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The material the pumpkin structure was made out of was corrected. (Tuesday, Feb. 3, 9:05 p.m.)