Maker’s Workshops: Sketching the Great Hall

Moh’d Bilbeisi, architect, illustrator, and educator, will lead a hands-on sketching workshop inspired by The Wave, a 55-by-180-foot recycled aluminum installation in the National Building Museum’s Great Hall. Designed by Catholic University of America professor Tonya Ohnstad in collaboration with students, industry partners, and the Museum’s exhibitions team, the installation serves as the primary subject for guided sketching exercises focused on scale, rhythm, light, and material detail. 

The workshop begins with a live demonstration in which Bilbeisi shares his drawing process and foundational techniques for observing and capturing large-scale form. As they sketch The Wave within the context of the Great Hall, participants will explore material innovation, engineering precision, and the relationship between contemporary installation and historic architecture. 

Open to beginners and experienced artists alike, this workshop offers an opportunity to refine sketching skills while engaging closely with a landmark work of contemporary design. 

Supplies 

9 in x 12 in clipboard 8 ½ in x 11 in sheets of sketching paper  

Pilot Precise V7 rollerball pen  

All materials provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own.  

Schedule  

9:30 – 10am: Check-in at F Street Entrance  

10am: Introduction 

10:15am: Sketching Workshop in the Great Hall  

12pm: Workshop Concludes  

About Moh’d Bilbeisi 

Moh’d Bilbeisi is an imaginative professor, architect, book author, illustrator, and watercolorist who is driven by a passion for self-expression through art and illustration. He offers journaling, painting and sketching workshops nationally and internationally, emphasizing the importance of graphic literacy and communication. Bilbeisi is the recipient of many national and international awards in drawing and illustration, including the Ken Roberts Architectural Delineation Competition, the American Society of Architectural Illustrators’ International Competition, and the Design Communication Association William Kirby Lockard Achievement Award. Moh’d is an avid traveler and his passion for travel and cultural multiplicity had taken him to places, near and far. He is often carrying his graphic journal documenting his experiences. He offers journaling, painting and sketching workshops nationally and internationally emphasizing the importance of graphic literacy and communication. Moh’d is also a noted author of several books such as Graphic Journaling and co-author of Words and Colors, Creative Journeys, among others. His illustrations have appeared in numerous publications, books, and journal ads. A selected collection of his work may be viewed at mohdbilbeisiart.com and has a cyber-presence on the social media networks. 

About The Wave 

Real innovation rarely follows a straight line.

The Wave is a research project led by Catholic University of America professor Tonya Ohnstad in collaboration with architecture students and industry partners. The project makes visible the iterative, rarely explored relationship between scholarship, construction, materiality, and design. The future of space frame technology—seen in the full-scale structure overhead and in the elements displayed at ground level—is investigated through months of design studies, structural modeling, materials testing, and collaboration among students, faculty, engineers, fabricators, and museum staff.

The prototype structure at ground level and the exhibition materials displayed inside a geodesic dome explore an innovative hybrid system: a patent-pending aluminum strut reinforced internally with a cable tendon. Combining compression and tension within a single rod allows the material to work more efficiently—stronger, lighter, and smarter. Aluminum was chosen for its light weight, recyclability, and enormous potential for future construction. At roughly one quarter of the weight of steel, aluminum reveals where innovation matters most: at the connections. The challenges encountered were not with the material or the concept, but with the precision required at the joints—a frontier to be explored further.

The full-scale Wave structure overhead is constructed from steel, a material better suited for a public installation where predictability and durability are essential. The material choices reflect context: aluminum for exploration and innovation, and steel for demonstration and performance. While the design team pivoted to a more traditional space frame material and assembly, the new structural logic could one day be realized in materials like titanium for aerospace applications, or through emerging fabrication methods we are only beginning to imagine.

The Wave project embraces innovation as a process—one where learning comes not only from success, but from testing architectural ideas against the realities of fabrication, assembly, and use.

This program is made possible with support from our VISIBLE VAULT sponsors, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Formica Corporation, Ken and Ginny Grunley Family Trust, Beverly A. Willis Estate, Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, Armstrong Flooring™, a brand of AHF Products, Esri, ShawContract®, CENTRAL BUILDING & PRESERVATION L.P. and Lilly Endowment Inc.