Architecture

Wassim Jabi has published an introduction to TGraph, describing it as a more explicit and efficient graph representation for TopologicPy. TopologicPy is an open source Python library for spatial modelling and analysis in architecture, engineering, and construction. Its graph-based representation is used to connect geometry, topology, information, graph databases, knowledge graphs, GraphRAG workflows, and graph machine learning. A clearer graph layer is therefore relevant for workflows that need to reason about spaces, adjacency, connectivity, and semantic relationships rather than only geometric shape. ...

IFClite merged PR #1182, a contribution from Mathias Sønderskov Schaltz that lets IFClite parse IFC inside the CAD process — as a plain DLL. The clean way to call a Rust engine from Grasshopper or Revit used to mean running a local server and talking to it over HTTP. But the moment something opens a port on a managed machine, enterprise IT lights up: firewall rules, security reviews, the whole dance. The FFI wires IFClite straight into the process instead. A new ifc-lite-ffi crate builds with crate-type = ["cdylib"] to ifc_lite_ffi.dll, and the host loads it like any other library. No server. No port. No network. Just a function call. ...

BIMvoice Academy has opened its practical openBIM training library for free. In an OSArch community post, Petru Conduraru says the free material includes courses on IFC schema in practice, IDS, Revit to IFC, native IFC building modelling, bridge modelling in IFC4x3, Bonsai, and drawing production directly from IFC. ...

OpenAEC Foundation has published an open source software ecosystem for the AEC sector, covering buildings, infrastructure, civil engineering, and site workflows. The project presents a broad catalogue of tools including Open PDF Studio, Open 2D Studio, Open CAD Studio, Open Geotechniek Studio, Monty IFC Viewer, BIM Validator, Open Energy Studio, Open Field Studio, BCF Manager Studio, and others, with source code collected under the OpenAEC Foundation GitHub organisation. ...

IFC Georeferencer is a browser-based tool for giving IFC models real-world coordinates. Developed by Bedrock.engineer for buildingSMART Nederland’s Georefereren IFC initiative, it runs client-side so IFC files are processed in the browser rather than uploaded to a server. ...

Hippo3D has its first public release as a free and open source CAD modelling plugin for Blender. The project experiments with bringing Rhino-style, command-based, and coordinate-driven modelling workflows into Blender while keeping the tools integrated with Blender’s wider ecosystem. ...

Work is underway on Bonsai Viewer, a dedicated free software IFC viewer for model coordination and review. The gap is straightforward: there is no mature free software equivalent of Revizto, BIMcollab, Solibri, and similar coordination viewers. Bonsai Viewer aims to fill that gap, while also making it easier for others to build their own desktop, tablet, kiosk, on-site screen, or web-based IFC viewer applications on top of IfcOpenShell. ...

Louis Trümpler announced that point clouds are coming to IFClite as part of the same browser-native openBIM workflow, rather than as a separate viewer or visual overlay. The first pass includes LAS / LAZ streaming, E57 / PLY / PCD readers, Web Worker decoding, WebGPU point rendering, colour modes for RGB, classification, intensity, height, and fixed colour, plus federation-aware point picking. ...

Bonsai v0.8.5 has been released with 962 new features and fixes. The release is described as a “line in the sand”: a compatibility and consolidation checkpoint driven partly by Blender 5.1 support, the move to Python 3.13, and a lot of structural work preparing for larger changes ahead. ...

Olympus has been open sourced as a toolkit for building and prototyping 3D web applications for architecture, engineering, construction, and operations. The project combines a Three.js-based 3D editor, Monaco code editor, Chart.js dashboards, undo-redo, configurable UI, and an extensible addon system. ...