While growing up across the Charles River in Cambridge, he balanced his love of the arts with his interest in technology, nearly pursuing video production and civil engineering as careers.  Mario took up woodworking as a hobby and found that furniture making synthesized his seemingly disparate passions. Since diving full-time into furniture making and joining a custom furniture shop in 2016, he has built a foundation in traditional craftsmanship, completing coursework at the North Bennet Street School in Boston and apprenticing with Ben Rawlinson, a bespoke furniture maker in London. Mario recently completed the Furniture Design Certificate program at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.  During his studies, Mario continued to hone his skills, began working with new materials, and pushed beyond conventional notions of form. Mario now designs and builds in a way that understands - but isn’t limited by - tradition.