TT5: Make the Tool

October 29, 2026

This weekly email shares my curated selection of interesting and useful topics on BIM, design, and technology. I aim to share useful information and a few laughs along the way. So, what did I find interesting this week? Read down to find out!

A few of this week’s links are about making tools: two small Revit add-ins, an AI-assisted craft project, and an old Excel macro of mine. They start with different problems, but each begins with someone deciding to fix them. You’ll also find a conversation about finding time to do the work, followed by a Halloween architecture quiz that requires no Revit skills whatsoever. Alright, let’s get started!

#1: Rollout, Rollout, Rollout

A Revit rollout led to two add-ins built with AI help. One puts model-health indicators on a project dashboard; the other updates the view template when someone changes the view type. The second one fixes a small Revit annoyance that often leads to major cleanup.

Click here to read the full article at Design Tech Field Guide.

#2: I Want to Make Things

Autodesk’s John Pierson used Codex to build a generator for papel picado decorations. The project got him thinking about how much time to spend on the method, whether that’s writing code or connecting Dynamo nodes, versus making something useful and improving it.

Click here to read the full article at John Pierson’s blog.

#3: The Art of Toolmaking

I wrote this article back in 2015, after thinking about how my dad would make a tool when the one he needed didn’t exist. My version was an Excel macro that checked a drawing-issue folder against the sheet index and flagged missing or extra PDFs and DWGs. The technology isn’t new, but the satisfaction of fixing a tedious problem hasn’t changed much.

Click here to read the full article at ArchSmarter.

#4: Who Owns Our Time?

Bob Borson explores the gap between a calendar full of necessary meetings and the uninterrupted time architects need to finish their work. He also explains what happens to a project schedule when a client puts work on hold and then wants to start again.

Click here to listen to the episode at Life of an Architect.

#5:Architecture of Death Quiz

For a Halloween break, Archinect has a quiz on tombs, crypts, catacombs, and other burial architecture. It’s a chance to test your architectural knowledge without opening Revit or checking your calendar. It is a bit spooky, though.

Click here to take the quiz at Archinect. 

That's all from me. I hope you're having a great week.

Michael