Christopher Prinz with one of his floor lamps in a fabrication studio in Omaha.
Photo: Annie Alice Schenzel
Creative Mind: Christopher Prinz
The Omaha designer is known for his attention-grabbing furnishings crafted out of iridescent metal
Christopher Prinz with one of his floor lamps in a fabrication studio in Omaha. Photo: Annie Alice Schenzel
Iridescent sheets of metal in attention-grabbing hues of blue, pink, and yellow are hallmarks of Christopher Prinz’s inventive work. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Prinz decided to return to Omaha after a brief stint in New York. While working in a fabrication shop in his hometown, he began experimenting with folding and bending techniques, initiating what would become his signature look. “I was really intrigued by how a thin piece of sheet metal can become rigid,” he says. “Working it with a hammer, wrench, or vice hardens it.” Building on his early iterations, Prinz began electroplating the surfaces with zinc, copper, and nickel, developing the metallic rainbow forms that caught the eye of Tribeca design dealer Patrick Parrish, who now offers his stools, tables, wall works, and lamps.
Designer darling: Prinz recently finished a console commission for Kelly Wearstler, Peter Marino has used several of his pieces in Louis Vuitton boutiques abroad, and Oliver Furth just installed a stainless-steel cocktail table in a California beach house.
A wrinkled chair in rainbow iridescence. Photo: Christopher Prinz
Christopher Prinz "Wrinkled Stool" Photo: Christopher Prinz
All in the family: “My dad, Thomas, was an artist and an architect, so I got exposure to the art and design worlds at a young age. Beyond that, I’ve always been interested in how things are made and manufacturing. I feel like I’ve settled right in the middle.”
Christopher Prinz Wrinkled Bench. Photo: Christopher Prinz
Up next: “I’m at an interesting intersection and may do a 180—it would be fun to work with softer materials.” patrickparrish.com
Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Prinz
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A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2021 Spring Issue under the headline “Creative Minds.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Christopher Prinz with one of his floor lamps in a fabrication studio in Omaha.
Photo: Annie Alice Schenzel
