Los Angeles has always been a place where art and machines intersect. From lowriders to street murals, design often moves between the studio and the garage. During this Art Odyssey visit, I spent time with Ruben Palencia, a fabricator and builder whose work sits right at that intersection.
Ruben runs a custom design and fabrication studio in Huntington Park, California. His shop focuses on automotive fabrication and custom builds, but the environment feels closer to an art studio than a traditional garage. Clean, organized workspaces are filled with tools, materials, and machines that allow ideas to move quickly from concept to object.
His path into fabrication started with art.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Ruben found opportunities to sit in on classes at ArtCenter College of Design, the renowned school known for its automotive design program. Through scholarships, he was also able to take life drawing classes, which helped sharpen his understanding of form, proportion, and detail. Those early experiences exposed him to the discipline behind design and the way artists translate ideas into physical work.
That background eventually led him into supporting artists directly. Ruben began helping creatives fabricate pieces for art shows and museum installations. His ability to translate an artist’s concept into something structurally sound made him an invaluable collaborator. Whether building display structures or sculptural components, he developed a reputation for being extremely detail oriented.
Today that same mindset shows up in his automotive work.
Inside his studio, fabrication and design tools sit side by side. There are welders, workbenches, and engine components alongside 3D printers and laser cutters. The space allows Ruben to prototype ideas quickly—turning digital designs into physical objects, whether they’re functional parts or sculptural pieces.
That design-first approach carries into the cars he works on. Ruben fabricates everything from turbo setups and strut tower modifications to custom suspension solutions. Each project is approached with the same level of care you might see in an art installation: precise measurements, thoughtful design, and attention to how every piece fits together.
The studio itself reflects Ruben’s influences. The walls are covered with artwork—from pieces by artists like David Choe to visual references collected over the years. Mixed among them are extremely rare Toyota engines and parts, artifacts from another world of craftsmanship.
Toyota culture runs deep for Ruben and his family. He has a particular love for classic Corollas and older Toyota platforms, cars that represent a generation of engineering that is simple, durable, and endlessly modifiable. Those machines have become a canvas for the fabrication work happening in his shop.
Walking through the studio, it’s easy to see how art and engineering overlap in Ruben’s process. The tools may change—from pencils and sketchbooks to welders and CAD—but the thinking behind them is the same. It’s about understanding form, solving problems, and bringing ideas to life.
Hearing Ruben talk about how he built his studio was genuinely inspiring. His journey shows how creative skills can travel across disciplines. Drawing, design, fabrication, and engineering all feed into the same mindset: making things that didn’t exist before.
That spirit is something you feel immediately when you step into the shop.
Forma Design Studio
Custom Design & Fabrication
Automotive Fab & Custom Builds
Design | Art | Culture | Events
Crafted in Los Angeles
Studio Location
2558 E 56th St
Huntington Park, California 90255
Contact
(323) 382-4347
formadesignstudio@yahoo.com
Instagram
@formadesignstudio_llc