WHO WE ARE
Rise Projects is a full-service architecture and design firm founded and led by Karen Frome with a vision for thoughtful materiality and balancing the elegant with the bold. Our enthusiastic team brings over 50 years of combined experience to a wide array of projects from institutional to retail to hospitality and residential. We see every project as an exploration between our office and our client. We immerse ourselves in the inspirations and the expectations for a project, dig deep in our research of the opportunities the project may afford, and carefully abide by our clients’ needs. Through this attentive and hands-on approach Rise Projects has built a relationship with clients who frequently return to us for subsequent projects.
Our in-house team at Rise harnesses the expertise of our longstanding consultants to ensure that work is seamlessly executed. We deftly solve difficult situations and enjoy bringing creative and fresh thinking to a wide array of challenges.
Rise Projects is a Woman-owned Business Enterprise.
THE TEAM
KAREN FROME
FOUNDING PARTNER / A.I.A / REGISTERED ARCHITECT NY,NJ,PA + CT
Karen Frome has over 20 years of experience practicing architecture. Karen holds a Masters in Architectural History and Theory from Princeton University. She has a Masters in Architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelors of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Frome has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Guggenheim Fellow in Venice and received numerous grants and awards including a Graham Foundation Grant, John Labatut Fellowship and has published articles in a number of cultural publications.
Karen participated in the Learning by Design Program teaching children about space and architecture and has taught industrial design studios at the Rhode Island School of Design and graduate architectural studios at Parsons School of Design and Columbia University. She is on the board of directors of the not-for-profit Archive Global and has served on several boards and architectural and planning committees.
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DARWIN POBLETE
PARTNER
Darwin Poblete has been with Rise Projects (previously Design Laboratories) since 2008. During that time, he has served as designer and project manager on multiple complete apartment renovations such as those at 1185 Park Ave; 910 Fifth Avenue; One York Street; two ongoing projects at 4 Lexington Avenue; and a house addition in Bridgehampton, NY. He recently completed the New York Aether store in Soho and a full floor office space at 32 Old Slip, and has shepherded projects at the Ft. Washington Armory including a cafe, classroom, museum space and ongoing site planning. Darwin has served as the primary contact for clients, contractors and consultants on these projects and has overseen projects from schematics, the permit process to construction admin.
Darwin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture and a minor in Dance and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley in 2001 and started his professional career in San Francisco working on restaurants and residential projects prior to moving to New York in 2005.
RALPH CHENG
DESIGNER
LAUREN LEVINSON
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER/ INTERIOR DESIGNER
KALEIGH DAY
PROJECT MANAGER
JULIA LOLA WANG
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
MARTA PORTILLO
DESIGNER
KEITH LAVIT
COO
CAITLIN RIDDELL
STUDIO MANAGER
NARIMA TUDI
BOOKKEEPER