# Eliana Nigro: From Computational Designer to Digital Leader at Henning Larsen > Article on the PAACADEMY blog. - Author: Hamid Hassanzadeh - Published: 2026-10-18 - Topics: Newsroom - Canonical: https://paacademy.com/blog/alumni-eliana-nigro --- From 3XN/GXN to COBE and Henning Larsen, Eliana Nigro has built a career connecting computational design, artificial intelligence, and architectural education. In this Alumni Spotlight, she reflects on her professional journey, her experience with PAACADEMY, and why continuous learning remains essential at every stage of an architect’s career. ## Introduction What does it take to build a career at the intersection of architecture, computational design, and emerging technologies? For Italian architect Eliana Nigro, the answer involves more than mastering sophisticated software or developing complex computational systems. It requires curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to continually reconsider how architecture is designed, communicated, and practiced. Currently serving as Head of Digital Adoption at Henning Larsen in Copenhagen, Nigro has built an international career spanning architectural practice, digital innovation, and education. Before joining Henning Larsen, she served as Head of Computational Design at COBE and worked in computational design at 3XN/GXN. Alongside these positions, she founded ELNI Studio in 2015 and has remained actively involved in teaching and sharing computational design knowledge with architects around the world. Her relationship with PAACADEMY began while she was already working professionally at 3XN/GXN. Interested in exploring new approaches to computational design, she participated in the Eco-Parametric Structures workshop led by Studio Mamou-Mani, where she developed Fungus Among Us, a computational design project subsequently featured by Parametric Architecture in 2021. She later returned to PAACADEMY as an instructor, teaching Computational Dreamscape and Computational Dreamscape 2.0, workshops exploring the intersection of parametric design, artificial intelligence, and architectural visualization. For this edition of PAACADEMY Alumni Spotlight, we spoke with Eliana about her journey from architecture student to digital design leader, the experiences that shaped her professional development, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in architectural practice. In the conversation that follows, she reflects on the importance of continuous education, the value of learning from other designers, and why the ability to think critically may become more important than ever. ## In Conversation with Eliana Nigro ### 1. Could you introduce yourself and tell us how your journey into architecture and computational design began? **Eliana Nigro:** I’m Eliana Nigro. I’m an Italian architect based in Copenhagen, and today I’m Head of Digital Adoption at Henning Larsen. My work is mainly around computational design, AI and how we actually bring new digital methods into architectural practice. I also founded ELNI Studio in 2015, mostly as a space for consultancy and education around computational design, AI and digital fabrication. My journey into this started at university in Naples, where I studied Architecture and Engineering. I think computational design clicked with me because it matched the way my brain works. I like understanding a problem, breaking it into smaller pieces and creating a logic that you can test and change. Teaching came very early as well. I was already teaching Rhino and parametric modelling while I was studying, and later I did the Master in Advanced Digital Architecture at IUAV in Venice. After that I worked with digital fabrication in Italy and at Mario Cucinella Architects, before moving to Copenhagen and joining 3XN/GXN. At the same time, I was always teaching, writing and sharing what I was learning. So for me practice and education have always developed together. ### 2. You were already working in computational design at 3XN/GXN when you joined PAACADEMY. What motivated you to continue learning at that stage of your career? **Eliana Nigro:** I don’t think being good at something means you should stop learning it. Actually, probably the opposite. At 3XN/GXN I was working a lot with parametric design, massing, facades and complex digital models on international projects. Competitions especially teach you a lot because everything is fast, and you constantly need to find better or smarter ways of doing things. But workshops gave me something different. You get to see how another person thinks. And I find that extremely interesting because you can give the same problem to five designers and they will probably solve it in five completely different ways. There was also the teaching side. I have always been curious about how other people teach. How do they explain something complicated? How do they help someone who is stuck? How do they structure a workshop so people stay curious? And in Denmark we are quite lucky because professionals can have access to education funds. My thinking was always: if that opportunity exists, use it to learn something you are genuinely excited about, from people whose work you really admire. ### 3. You attended PAACADEMY’s Eco-Parametric Structures workshop with Studio Mamou-Mani, where you developed Fungus Among Us. What attracted you to the workshop, and what did you take away from the experience? **Eliana Nigro: ** I really admired Arthur Mamou-Mani’s work. What attracted me was that his computational work didn’t feel cold or purely formal. There was computation, but also material, sustainability, fabrication and a very human side to it. That combination really resonates with me. With Fungus Among Us, I was interested in creating something that looked very organic and complex, but was actually controlled through quite simple geometries and rules. This is still something I love about computational design. You can have something visually very complex, but behind it there can be a very clear logic. The project was later published by Parametric Architecture in 2021, and PAACADEMY kept using the image for different announcements and campaigns. It was honestly just really nice to see something I made during a workshop having such a long life afterwards. [IMAGE: Fungus Among Us by Eliana Nigro — PAACADEMY Eco-Parametric Structures Workshop] ### 4. As an established computational designer, what value did workshops and continuous learning bring to your professional development? **Eliana Nigro:** For me there are probably two main things: perspective and methodology. When you work in the same environment for a long time, it’s very easy to start thinking that the way you do something is simply the way it is done. Then you see somebody approaching the same problem completely differently and suddenly you question your own assumptions again. I think that’s healthy. The other part is methodology. Software changes all the time. I had courses on Ladybug Tools, LCA workflows, Rhino.Inside.Revit, Python, Rhino Compute and many other technologies over the years. But the important part is not knowing a long list of tools. It’s understanding how to structure a problem and create a workflow. I also think that if you teach, you need to keep being a student yourself. More than ten years after I first started teaching Rhino at university, I did McNeel’s Authorized Rhino Trainer programme and became an Authorized Rhino Trainer in 2025. For me that was important. I take teaching seriously, in the same way that I take professional practice seriously. ### 5. You later became Head of Computational Design at COBE. What experiences helped you transition from computational design into leadership? **Eliana Nigro:** I think one of the biggest things I learned at 3XN/GXN was that the most valuable script wasn’t necessarily the smartest one. It was the one somebody else could actually use. If I create something and I’m the only person who understands it, the impact is quite limited. But if I give a team a system where they can change the parameters themselves, explore alternatives and make their own decisions, then it becomes much more powerful. That mindset probably explains a lot of my transition into leadership. When I moved to COBE, I wanted the opportunity to build something more from the ground up. As Head of Computational Design, I developed the strategy around three areas: innovation, knowledge sharing and bringing computational methods into everyday project work. I worked directly with teams across architecture, landscape and urbanism, helping with complex geometries, building tools and supporting sustainability-driven decisions. For me the cultural part was equally important. I wanted people to feel they could just come with a problem. Computational design shouldn’t be something hidden in a specialist corner. It should be something designers feel comfortable reaching for when it can help them. ### 6. Today, you’re Head of Digital Adoption at Henning Larsen. How has your role evolved from computational design into broader digital transformation? **Eliana Nigro:** I think the easiest way to explain the evolution is that the question became bigger. As a computational designer, the question was: how do I solve this? Later it became: how do I help a team solve this? And now at Henning Larsen it is much more: how do we make something useful for the whole global large practice, so that what one person or one office learns doesn’t stay there? A big part of my role is really about helping knowledge travel. I work across architecture, landscape and urbanism, and I spend a lot of time trying to understand how people actually work before deciding what technology or solution makes sense. Because I don’t think digital transformation works very well if it starts from the technology rather than from the practice. Today that includes AI, computational design, interoperability between Rhino and Revit, digital standards and training. On the AI side it goes from design-specific tools and AI inside Rhino and Revit to everyday tools such as Copilot and Ramboll’s internal RamGPT. I also collaborate with the wider Ramboll technology community, especially around AI and code-driven design, and I run AI leadership training for executives and directors. ### 7. Your relationship with PAACADEMY eventually came full circle, from attending a workshop to becoming an instructor. What did that experience mean to you? **Eliana Nigro:** For me it didn’t really feel like suddenly going from student to teacher, because I had already been teaching for many years. I had taught at universities in different parts of the world, through ELNI Studio and through professional courses. So PAACADEMY was more like another place where I could continue doing something I already really cared about. What I liked particularly was the reach. With an online workshop, you can have architects joining from completely different countries and backgrounds. People who might never otherwise have access to the same teacher or knowledge can suddenly be in the same room. And this connects to something I believe quite strongly: computational design shouldn’t belong only to a small group of specialists. I also really liked bringing practice into the classroom. Not only showing what a tool can do, but explaining how and why you would actually use it on a real project. Later PAACADEMY included me among its Top 10 Inspiring Women Instructors. Of course I was very happy about that, especially because teaching has been such an important part of my career. ### 8. You taught Computational Dreamscape and Computational Dreamscape 2.0 at PAACADEMY. What did you want students to learn, and how did teaching influence your own practice? **Eliana Nigro:** Computational Dreamscape started from something I was already experimenting with a lot at the time: what happens when you combine computational design with AI image generation. We worked with tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, and then in Computational Dreamscape 2.0 I added Unreal Engine 5. So we were moving between parametric systems, AI and real-time environments. But honestly, the tools were not the main point. There were three things I really wanted people to understand. First, complex forms can come from very simple logic. Second, a strong image needs an idea behind it. You can make something visually impressive very quickly, especially now with AI, but if there is no story or intention behind it, the image doesn’t really say much. And third, AI becomes much more interesting when you are actually directing it with your own design intent rather than just accepting what it gives you. Teaching also helps my own practice a lot. If you can explain something complicated in a simple way, normally it means you understand it. And I use exactly the same thinking today when I run internal training or talk about digital methods with people who don’t see themselves as technical. #### Explore Eliana Nigro’s Workshops at PAACADEMY ⁠[Computational Dreamscape](https://paacademy.com/course/computational-dreamscape): Explore the intersection of computational design, artificial intelligence, and architectural visualization. [⁠Computational Dreamscape 2.0](https://paacademy.com/course/computational-dreamscape-2-0): Develop workflows combining parametric systems, AI-generated imagery, and real-time environments using Unreal Engine 5. ### 9. How do you see artificial intelligence and computational design reshaping architectural practice and the role of designers? **Eliana Nigro:** I actually think AI makes computational thinking more important, not less. We are moving into a situation where generating things becomes extremely easy. You can generate an image, text, code or many design alternatives incredibly quickly. So the interesting question becomes: how do you know which one is good? For me that’s where the value is moving. Generating is getting cheaper. Judgment becomes more valuable. AI is very good at helping us explore more possibilities, but somebody still needs to understand the site, the client, the culture, the constraints and what we are actually trying to achieve. AI can accelerate exploration, but it doesn’t remove the need for design judgment. Something else I find really exciting is coding. AI is lowering the barrier for people who have never programmed before, and suddenly many more designers can start making their own tools. That’s extremely powerful, but there is also an important distinction: being able to create code doesn’t automatically mean that you are creating good, reliable code. This is where computational design knowledge becomes very relevant again. And perhaps, as technology takes over more of the technical work, what becomes even more important is the very human part of architecture: understanding people, culture and place. ### 10. Looking back on your career, what advice would you give young architects interested in computational design and emerging technologies? **Eliana Nigro:** I would say: learn the method, not only the tool. Tools are going to keep changing. Especially now, they change incredibly fast. But if you understand how to break down a problem, build a logic and structure a workflow, learning the next tool becomes much easier. Also, don’t stop being a student just because you become good at something. And share what you know. For me the goal has never been to make myself indispensable. Actually, it’s almost the opposite. If I build something useful, I want other people to be able to use it without me. And with AI especially, protect your judgment. It is becoming easier and easier for everyone to produce something that looks good. The difficult part is understanding whether it is actually right. And finally, keep playing with things. Try the weird tool. Test the thing that doesn’t completely make sense yet. Right now it sometimes feels like we are running in the fog. We don’t completely know where all of this is going, but if you stop experimenting because you are waiting for everything to become clear, you will probably miss a lot of the learning along the way. ## Beyond the Tools: A Commitment to Lifelong Learning Eliana Nigro’s professional journey reflects an increasingly important reality in architecture: technological expertise is not a fixed achievement, but a continuously evolving discipline. From her early education in Italy to computational design at 3XN/GXN, leadership at COBE, and her current role at Henning Larsen, her career has developed alongside significant changes in the technologies and methodologies shaping architectural practice. Throughout these transitions, her commitment to education has remained consistent, influencing both how she approaches design challenges and how she shares knowledge with others. Her experience also highlights the changing relationship between computational design and architectural leadership. What begins as the ability to develop advanced digital tools can evolve into the responsibility of making those tools accessible to entire teams and organizations. At Henning Larsen, Nigro’s work increasingly focuses on this broader challenge, connecting technical innovation with the practical needs of architects, designers, and decision-makers. Her perspective suggests that the future of digital architecture will depend not only on technological capabilities, but also on the people and organizational cultures that determine how those capabilities are used. For PAACADEMY, Nigro’s journey represents the value of creating an educational environment where professional experience and continuous learning can coexist. She joined the platform not as a beginner, but as an established computational designer interested in exploring different perspectives through Studio Mamou-Mani’s workshop. Her subsequent return as an instructor illustrates how knowledge can circulate within a professional learning community, allowing participants to become contributors and educators in their own right. Perhaps the most enduring lesson from her story is that curiosity remains essential regardless of professional seniority. As artificial intelligence transforms the tools available to architects, the ability to question established methods, evaluate emerging possibilities, and continue developing new skills will remain fundamental to meaningful professional growth. Nigro’s experience offers a reminder that education is not simply a stepping stone toward a career in architecture, but an ongoing part of the profession itself. ## About Eliana Nigro Eliana Nigro is an Italian architect and computational design specialist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She currently serves as Head of Digital Adoption at Henning Larsen, where her work focuses on computational design, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and the integration of emerging technologies into architectural practice. Previously, she served as Head of Computational Design at COBE and worked as a computational designer at 3XN/GXN. She is the founder of ELNI Studio, an Authorized Rhino Trainer, and an educator who has taught computational design and digital technologies internationally. At PAACADEMY, she has taught Computational Dreamscape and Computational Dreamscape 2.0, sharing her expertise in computational design, artificial intelligence, and architectural visualization with an international audience. ⁠Connect with [Eliana Nigro on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliananigro-computationaldesign/) ## About PAACADEMY Alumni Spotlight PAACADEMY Alumni Spotlight celebrates the professional journeys of architects, designers, and creative professionals who have participated in our educational programs. Through their experiences, we explore how continuous learning, experimentation, and the exchange of knowledge contribute to careers in architecture and design. ⁠Explore Workshops at PAACADEMY