Grace Prince (b. London, 1992) is a furniture designer based in Zurich. She studied at Central Saint Martins in London, graduating in 2015, and subsequently trained in carpentry, marble carving, and editorial set design before moving to Milan in 2017 to work as assistant designer to Vincenzo De Cotiis, travelling extensively with artisans across Italy. Since 2020 she has held a position as research assistant to Professor Anne Holtrop for the Design Studio: Material Gesture at ETH Zurich.
Her practice centres on a method she has titled Gestural Assembly: contriving light juxtapositions of material and form via a slow sensory process, with the perceptive outcome of speed and chance. Each collection focuses on a specific sensation of mock delicacy and movement, in the understanding that an object becomes more poetic in the suspense of a destructive action. Pieces appear seemingly suspended, perceived as delicate and unfinished. Up close they are strong and sturdy, made with quality finishes and materials. Without the use of ready-mades, she forms each element by hand or in close collaboration with an artisan.
