About

Federico Negro is an architect, designer, and toolmaker who lives between Brooklyn, NY and Manantiales, Uruguay. With an MArch from Parsons School of Design, he has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of architecture, technology, and business.

In 2008, Federico co-founded CASE, a design-innovation and technology consultancy that grew to more than 70 staff working for organizations like Disney, Apple, and some of the world’s most well-known architects — Grimshaw, Snohetta, SOM, and many more. In 2015, CASE was acquired by WeWork, by then one of its largest clients.

As Global Head of Design at WeWork, he led the scaling of the design and construction group from a few dozen to more than 1,000 architects, designers, and engineers delivering work across 30+ countries, pioneering a data-driven approach to workplace design that reshaped conventional architecture practice. The work was profiled in Architect Magazine.

Taking lessons from WeWork’s expansion, he founded Canoa, a software platform that tied design and procurement processes together for the first time — a critical point of friction for owner-operators. Canoa’s work was featured in Metropolis, and Federico was named one of Business Insider’s 15 People Shaping the Office.

Throughout his career, Federico has advocated for technology that enables rather than replaces human creativity — a perspective featured in Fast Company and explored on the Clever, SURROUND, and Architecture 5 10 20 podcasts. His thinking on architecture and the circular economy continues to inform Alpa’s approach. Federico has also invested in AEC technology companies including Speckle, Monograph, and Naya.