Architectural & Visual Designer
Nicole De Araujo
Naomi Darling, AIA, NCARB, LEEP AP is a founding principal of Ko-LAB Architecture and Five College Professor of Sustainable Architecture. An architect with a background in environmental and structural engineering, climate change science, ceramics and sculpture, Naomi brings a distinctive approach that draws upon her diverse background. Every project is an opportunity to make the world a little better through a collaboration with both the client and site. Design solutions reflect the translation of ideas into built material form to bring beauty into our daily lives.
Naomi received a BSE degree from Princeton University in structural engineering and architectural design and a Masters of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. At Princeton, Naomi’s thesis work on the South Pole Station was recognized with the Calvin Dodd MacCracken Senior Thesis Award - the highest thesis award in the School of Engineering. While at Yale, Naomi was awarded the George Nelson Traveling Scholarship for research into “The Integration of Architecture and Landscape in a Peripatetic experience of the Chinese Garden.” In 2011, the Kernan Tea House was included in EP:2011, an annual exhibition of the work of emerging architects selected by the AIA Center for Emerging Professionals.
Prior to co-founding Ko-LAB, Naomi practiced under her eponymous firm, Naomi Darling Architecture for 15 years, completing numerous award-winning projects including the Kernan Photography Studio, the Mandel Sculpture Studio and winning a competition to design the Nitobe Memorial Hall in Sapporo Japan. Prior to establishing her own practice, Naomi worked in Seattle, Washington, with Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, in New Haven, Connecticut with Apicella + Bunton Architects and in Tokyo, Japan with Kengo Kuma and Associates.
As Five College Professor of Sustainable Architecture, Naomi teaches in a shared position between Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Naomi has also taught at the Yale School of Architecture, Brown University, Hampshire College and the Dalhousie University Faculty of Architecture and Planning. Naomi’s teaches primarily undergraduate design studios with a focus on environmental principles and design/build. Research interests include innovative use of natural materials including stone, wood and clay, the role of culture in sustainability and adaptive reuse.
Ray K Mann, AIA is a founding principal of Ko-LAB Architecture and Professor of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. An architect with a background in structural engineering as well as energy efficiency research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Ray has worked closely with residential and institutional clients to develop innovative solutions and distinctive designs, often on tight budgets.
Ray received a B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies with a minor in Structural Engineering from Harvard-Radcliffe and a Masters in Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. During her graduate studies, Ray was selected as the First Place recipient of the prestigious Skidmore Owings and Merrill Traveling Fellowship, and won a competition for the design of the National Park Service Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York. Soon thereafter she was recognized by the Progressive Architecture Young Architects Award for the innovative nature of her practice.
Prior to Ko-LAB, Ray was principle of RK Studio Architecture for over thirty years, and recognized for award-winning built projects including the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the MIT Media Lab ‘Brain Opera’ and Salamander Restaurant in Boston. She is one of the first in the region to build with innovative materials such as aerated concrete and fiber-cement SIPs.
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ray was instrumental in establishing the NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture, the first at a public institution in New England. Her focus in teaching is at undergraduate and graduate advanced studio levels where her continued involvement in professional practice is key. Ray’s research and collaborations include ongoing work with Nipmuc communities in Massachusetts, the sociology and economics of middle class housing, and design/build projects.
Darrell Petit is an internationally renowned sculptor best known for creating large-scale, often monumental sculpture from granite elements, which he painstakingly quarries, cuts, carves and assembles into interdependently balanced situations often with precariousness and contingency. Darrell has been working with leading quarries around the world to complete monumental sculptures including for the Chubu Museum and Cultural Center in Japan, for the Yale University Peabody Museum, for the Four Seasons at One Dalton Boston, and for the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
Darrell received his BA Urban Studies from Brown University, later studying at The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in NYC, the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin, Germany and the Kyoto University of the Arts, in Japan. During this time, Darrell started to work with granite, a material through which he has explored a wide range of subjects and experiences.
Prior to co-founding Ko-LAB, Darrell worked in collaboration with Naomi on multiple projects and for decades with architects, landscape architects and engineers including Robert Silman, Cesar Pelli, Diana Balmori, Kevin Roche, Henry Cobb and Michael Van Valkenburgh. He has also worked in all capacities with the historic Stony Creek Quarry since 1990, leading the team on many projects including The Statue of Liberty Museum, The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, the campus of Columbia University, the renovation of the Illinois State Capital, and the floors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
From 2022-25, Darrell was on the Board of Directors of the Natural Stone Institute and was an original member of the NSF joint committee on Sustainability to help develop the ANSI/NSI 373 sustainability for natural stone standard. Darrell initiated the NSI’s commitment to the Design for Freedom mission to help eradicate child labor in the natural stone world supply chains. Darrell is currently on the Board of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center where he is helping to develop specific direct carving experiential learning programs in collaboration with educational institutions including Yale, MIT, RISD, and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design of UPenn Preservation among others.
Nicole De Araujo is interested in creating sustainable, shared, and inclusive spaces that have room for growth and adaptation. She started working with Naomi after graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies. While at Mount Holyoke, Nicole took several studios with Naomi, including Designing for Life, a year-long course with a January-term field component in Thailand.
In 2024, Nicole received her Master of Architecture degree from Yale University, where she was a Teaching Fellow for the Yale Building Project, an exemplary design-build initiative in 2023 and 2024. Nicole has worked on projects including the Maier Camerlenghi Addition and graphic design, including the website. Currently, she is working towards licensure as a designer at DIGSAU, a Philadelphia-based architecture firm known for its focus on materiality and sustainability across a wide range of projects. Nicole continues to work with Ko-LAB Architecture on an occasional basis.
Krashang is a second-generation architect and a regional planner who enjoys connecting the dots: be it ideas from different disciplines, people from different areas of expertise, or applications from different industries. He has strong technical skills and an academic background in Architecture and planning. Krashang's passion lies in solving design problems with tailored architectural and planning interventions and communicating complex ideas to non-technical stakeholders.
Krashang recently graduated with Master of Architecture and Master of Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2023-26). His academic achievements include the 2026 AIA Medal for Academic Excellence and induction into the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society. He also has an Executive Masters in Business Administration degree from SSBM, Geneva (SWZ). During his undergrad, he was honored with the Program Topper Gold Medal (2016-21) for my academic accomplishments, and I was also involved in various leadership roles, including serving as the Unit Secretary for my university in the National Association of Students of Architecture (NASA), India.
Krashang is also the proprietor of his own architecture practice by the name of “Arch Umbrella Design Studio” in Dehradun (India). He is a registered architect with the Council of Architecture, India, and a proud member of the Indian Institute of Architects (Uttarakhand Chapter).
There have been many gifted interns throughout the years that have used their diverse skills and knowledge to contribute to projects. Many of our past team members have gone on to continue their education, work for other firms and develop new skills and knowledge of their disciplines.
Maya Gamble | Design Intern 2017 - 2018
Jason Carvalho | Design Intern 2023 - 2024
Nana Aba Turkson | Design Intern 2023 Summer
Ezgi Yilmaz | Design Intern 2022
Joan Kang | Design Intern 2020 Summer
Nicholas Jeffway | Design Intern 2015 - 2017
Spencer Hoyt | Design Intern 2013 - 2015
Jordan Bensley | Design Intern 2014
Past Team Members