$ ls
total 4
architecture runs on tools. the tools shape what gets thought, drawn, and built. most are proprietary: subscriptions that can be cancelled, file formats only their owners can read, work that disappears when a license lapses. in a profession that already runs on precarious labor, that’s rent extraction.
free and open source software is the cleanest answer, but not the only one. what i’m after is ownership and openness. tools you own instead of rent. file formats anyone can read. data that doesn’t sit behind a paywall. code as a commons when possible. when it isn’t, at least open data.
openbureau is that position turned into a platform — still taking shape. dossier and rapport are the first pieces built on it: tools written for my own practice, released so other people can use or fork them.
beyond what i build, openbureau is also a service: i curate open-source software that carries no fixed costs and no lock-in, set it up, and support it, so a studio or small practice can run on tools it owns instead of subscriptions it rents.
RAPPORT
2026
a management tool for small architecture offices: project management, time tracking, quotes and invoicing, bookkeeping, employee records, payroll, meeting minutes — one place instead of five subscriptions stitched together. free software, self-hostable, no per-seat licensing. your data stays on your own devices.
DOSSIER
2026
a cad for early-phase architectural design. walls, doors, windows, slabs, stairs, roofs, levels, and a 2d drawing layer that feels like a 2d drawing layer. one semantic model as the single source of truth — plan, section, elevation, and 3d view are all derived from it, not separate drawings kept in sync by hand. it started as a rhino plugin; it’s now its own standalone desktop app, with its own geometry kernel, rendering engine, and file format — no dependency on software you don’t own. what exists is either expensive proprietary software, or full bim systems built for office-scale documentation that don’t fit how you actually think during a sketch. open source bim tools live in blender or freecad and follow a 3d-first logic — useful, but not how you draw a plan in 2d. dossier is the tool i wanted to use myself, during my master’s and in my own work. open data, agpl-licensed, part of the openbureau suite.