In May, Pratt in Venice director Diana Gisolfi had a wonderful conversation with alumnus Daryl Landy (Pratt in Venice, 1997; Master's in Industrial Design, 1998). During this meeting, they discussed Daryl’s recent work in Ghana, where he has been creating his lifestyle brand NKUBAR and his food brand KOJOATTO. After this meeting, we asked Daryl if he could write a brief article on his work after Pratt in Venice. This is what he wrote:
In 1997, without realizing it, I began laying the foundation for the rest of my life. I was a Pratt graduate student working toward my Master's in Industrial Design (MID '98) and enrolled in Pratt in Venice, thinking it would simply complement my rigid training as an architect and designer. I had no idea it would do far more than push me out of my comfort zone. I still recall the exact moment I looked up from my sketch pad and realized that I - a Black kid from Brooklyn - was in Venice, Italy, watching colors change across ancient Venetian architecture as the sun set over the Grand Canal. Thirty years later, that image and the feeling of possibility it created are still etched in my memory. Looking back, I now understand that the journey that brought me to Venice quietly prepared me for an even longer journey.
That summer in Venice taught me that the world could be my home, that craft and culture are inseparable, and that design could be a bridge between where you come from and where you're meant to go. My journey after Pratt was very long and full of challenges, and I was consistently burdened with self-doubt - until a close friend helped me see that all of my life experiences had been preparing me for my life's ambition in Africa.
Every role built on the last. As Creative Director for a tabletop company, I learned to take a product from concept to quality control, working alongside European manufacturers. As an Exhibit Designer for a major trade show production company in White Plains, NY, I learned how to shape immersive experiences that increased exhibitor sales. As Executive Director of a nonprofit in Baltimore, I created fundraising events and community festivals to revitalize a historic commercial district - though at the time, I didn’t fully understand how that work would serve me later. The most challenging chapter, however, was becoming a foster parent to young people from very difficult circumstances in Baltimore city. That experience prepared me to walk into a Bronx classroom armed with enough patience, structure, and heart to manage and teach 5 classes of 30 students Python programming.
My time as a NYC high school teacher finally afforded me the finances to visit Ghana for the first time in April 2018 where it felt both foreign and simultaneously also very familiar to me. I immediately felt at home in a foreign land. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was allowed to teach remotely from home but they never said home had to be in the Bronx. So I took that opportunity to see if I could truly live on the Continent. I discovered that I could. Leaving the financial security of my job was the hardest part. I had to silence both my own doubts and the external voices telling me I was making a mistake. Even as I hit "send" on my resignation email, I thought, “This is insane! I am starting over in Africa at the age of 50. FIFTY!!!”
Then it hit me: I wasn't starting over. I was beginning the life I had always dreamed for myself - and it was time to put every skill I'd gathered to work. Just before moving to Ghana, in 2019, I created NKUBAR, a lifestyle brand dedicated to sustainable products inspired by African heritage, culture, and function. Several years later, I launched the KOJOATTO food brand to illuminate the culinary and cultural ties that connect the African diaspora to its West African roots - honoring the resilient ingenuity behind Pan-African soul food.
Through NKUBAR, I work alongside master Ghanaian artisans whose hands carry generations of tradition and knowledge. Together, we craft contemporary staples - furniture, textiles, home goods - that tell a new story of Africa. That deep collaboration has shown me how transformative it can be for designers to immerse themselves in a living cultural landscape. Now I am developing a program that could one day offer Pratt students what Venice gave me: the chance to discover that the world beyond your comfort zone is where your real life begins.
