This chapter investigates the relationship among agent intelligence, environment and the use of tools. To this end, we first survey, organise and relate many relevant approaches in the literature, coming from both within and without the fields of artificial intelligence and computer science. Then we introduce the A&A meta-model for multiagent systems (MAS), where artifacts, working as tools for agents, are used as basic building blocks for MAS modelling and engineering, and discuss the related metaphor of the Agens Faber, which promotes a new, principled way to conceive and build intelligent systems.