He Set Out to Run a Simple Errand. Instead He Was Inspired to Endow an Architectural Sketching Prize.

More than 25 years ago, Darrel Rippeteau decided to make a courtesy visit to The Catholic University of America. He had no connection to the University and didn’t even have any particular business to conduct here that day. He simply wanted to make a delivery. 

His downtown D.C. architectural firm could no longer use the small treasure trove of architecture catalogues and magazines that were sitting in his offices—newer editions had since come in—and he hated the idea of throwing them out. He knew that Catholic University has an architecture school, and he figured maybe its students could use them.

That trip became the first of many visits over the years. During that visit, as Rippeteau browsed the student work on display throughout the building, he discovered the school’s emphasis on sketching—and the students’ talent for it. An avid sketcher himself, and a believer in the importance of sketching to the practice of architecture, he took note. 

An architectural meditation

When he came back the next year with another bundle of catalogues and magazines, he again perused the student sketches hanging on the walls, appreciating both the work itself and the clear dedication that someone on the faculty must have to this art. What Rippeteau noticed was a range of sketch work analyzing structures and scenes from Paris and Rome, other great European cities, and even Djerba, Tunisia. And he wanted to know who was behind this effort.

So he asked. And he learned that Stanley Hallet, Ph.D., professor emeritus and the former dean of Catholic University’s architecture school, was the person driving it. Hallet had a vision for fostering an analytic eye in his students, and he accomplished it, in part, by creating opportunities for them to sketch abroad. 

Of course, all architecture schools at that time offered courses in the 2D representation of buildings, and many offered opportunities for their students to go abroad in the summers and sketch the iconic structures in European capitals. But Hallet wanted to go a step further with Catholic University’s students. 

He wasn’t interested in having his students draw only “pretty pictures of what they saw.” He wanted them to learn analytic drawing. That meant trying to understand all the factors that led to that particular structure upon which the students found themselves gazing as they attempted to sketch: Why was the structure built and what function did it serve? Why did the patron, architect, and builders choose the materials they chose? How does the structure fit into the environment in which it resides, and how did it impact the community that built it? How do architecture and the urban landscape contribute to the built environment that surrounds us? 

Differentiating his sketch field trips from other schools, Hallet says, “Generally at other schools it’s the same thing—it’s a drawing—but ours explain the thing. We’re really putting together a study of sorts with the drawings.”

Hallet explains that with this method, his students attempt to understand the subject of their sketch at all different scales, from an urban scene to an architectural structure down to a window. It’s a process that he describes as a meditation of sorts. 

“When you sit, you move into architectural meditation,” he remarks. “You meditate on what you’re looking at, and the questions begin to become automatic and you’re observing in terms of layers.”

A time in between

Catholic University’s architecture students have long had the opportunity to go abroad and sketch Europe’s architectural marvels. In fact, by the time Hallet arrived at the University in the mid-1980s, students had already been participating for some time in the Cardinal O’Boyle traveling program, a summer program in Rome made possible by alumnus and benefactor Benjamin T. Rome.

Hallet built on this foundation by expanding the focus and sites. In fact, he took his first group of students to Tunisia to sketch the mosques of Djerba. In subsequent years, his studios were based in Italy and then Paris, with the studios offering a different topical focus each summer. Of course, students learned some of the history and language of the city in which the studio was stationed, but developing the art of analytic sketching remained the goal.

Over time, however, as the digital age started to replace the drawing table and T-square, students left that world, and according to Hallet, they began to lose even the tendency to draw by hand. He noticed them increasingly turning to their phones to shoot photos of everything around them. But he also noticed that once they finally sat down and moved out of their frantic mode, they began actually looking. He describes the transition beautifully:

“As they pulled out gloves, the tips cut off during cold winter days, or donned wide brimmed straw hats under the hot summer sun, I observed three things happening. First the eye, the quiet and patient taking it all in, sometimes called the ‘gaze.’ Second, the brain, asking those questions concerning how, why, and who made this extraordinary place. And third, the hand, patiently placing the simple information lines down, explaining this special place. Never just a single drawing, but more often a combination of images: the whole, the parts, details, and even personal notes, all competing for space in the pad to tell a very special story . . . I increasingly see the act of drawing as a way of better understanding the very making of a particular place, and most important, inspired by the lessons they learned, [the students] return to their studios to propose their own design proposals.” 

And that’s how Hallet’s studios remained relevant—more than relevant, actually. That’s how they spawned an approach still alive and well at the University today.

The piazza as classroom

Today, the teaching of analytic sketching is led by Lavinia Fici Pasquina, associate professor in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts and director of the Tech and Media in Architecture and Interiors program. Fici Pasquina coordinates the school’s study abroad program at the Rome campus and has taught multiple classes for a number of years, providing opportunities for students to learn analytic sketching while they live and study abroad.

More recently, she worked with Mark Ferguson, dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, to develop an independent course on analytic sketching that expands the time and building sites where students develop this core skill.

Their sketch work from the studio includes some of the architectural wonders for which Rome is famous: the Pantheon, the Ara Pacis, the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, the Maxxi Museum, and the Spanish Steps, for example. It includes less well-known structures, too, as Fici Pasquina has selected a combination of locations that challenge the students to describe nature and landscape, ancient and modern Rome, urban and social contexts, and interiors through their sketch work. 

In addition, students are free during long weekends to travel elsewhere in Europe and work on their own, unassigned drawings. Among last year’s compilations of sketches are Pompeii, Notre Dame, Mont Saint-Michel, the Louvre, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and more.

Fici Pasquina's own work utilizes digital tools in most phases of the design process, so at first glance, it might seem a little surprising that she now teaches the drawing class. But make no mistake: she sees the unique value that the slow “architectural meditation” of sketching (and of composing visual narratives) can contribute to the formation of an architect and to the presentation of architectural design. 

“I pushed the students to start appreciating places, but not as a reproduction of what they would see—as cameras can do this better—but rather as a composition of details that their eye would capture and their hand would connect,” says Fici Pasquina. “The idea was not to repeat but to interpret what they saw to tell the story of the place for people who are not architects, and to inspire with their creative structured drawings those who appreciate original and unique work.” 

Jumping in, Hallet adds, “And if you can tell the story, you not only become a better architect, but it prepares you for photography, film—all design arts.”

Re-enter Rippeteau

At Catholic University, Hallet’s emphasis on an analytic approach to sketching—and the course offered today—have reinforced sketching as a way of learning. That approach is also useful in industry. It’s a way for practicing architects in the profession to communicate with clients—and that’s where Darrel Rippeteau re-enters the story.

Rippeteau, who was a founding architect of the National Building Museum and past chairman of the Washington Building Congress, had a practice in Washington, D.C., designing shopping centers and offices for major developers up and down the East Coast and in the Midwest. He had long been interested in sketching for its own sake, but as a professional architect, he understood that sketching was also a useful business tool. Architects with strong sketching skills can use them to draw in front of the client and bring an idea alive.

“It helps people see the future,” Rippeteau explains.

And so, more than 25 years ago, after gazing in amazement at the student sketch work on display at the architecture school, Rippeteau decided he wanted to do something to encourage the students to continue developing their eye for sketching. 

“I was so surprised at the quality of the work that I thought, ‘Gosh, this could use recognition, and a good way to do recognition is to give cash awards,’” he recalls.

The effort started out small. In the early years, Rippeteau collected the students’ sketchbooks when they returned from travel abroad; he selected a few jurors from local galleries, and together they selected three or four winners; and then he wrote the checks.

“In my view, giving them money is necessary, and they put this on their resume and it helps them get jobs, so it improves their prospects,” says Rippeteau.

He continued this informal approach to the sketchbook awards for a number of years, but when he retired, Rippeteau decided to fund the awards permanently.  Named in honor of Hallet, he endowed the Stanley Hallet Sketchbook Awards and invited others to contribute to it. It’s now valued at more than $150,000.

“The school is extremely grateful for Darrel Rippeteau’s generosity and leadership in forming the Stanley Hallet Sketchbook Award endowment,” says Dean Ferguson. “It’s both a tribute and an investment—a tribute to Stanley, whose leadership and teaching left a lasting mark on our school, and an investment in the next generation of architects.” 

He adds, “In an age of intoxicating computer power, this award reminds us that the hand, the eye, and the imagination remain central to an architect’s formation and practice.”

Alumni, friends, and admirers have generously donated to the endowment over the years, and Ferguson, Rippeteau, and Hallet gratefully welcome new contributions to it. Anyone who wishes to donate may do so online or may contact Ms. Genevieve Montgomery, assistant director of leadership and annual giving, at montgomeryg@cua.edu or 202-319-4780 with questions.

And the winner is ...

The value and number of prizes has increased over the years, and in 2026, the student winners were awarded six cash prizes totaling $5,000. Anna-Grace Williams (’26) earned the First Place prize.

Of the many locations Williams sketched, the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere seemed to captivate her the most.

“I was particularly fascinated to see how certain places, such as Santa Maria in Trastevere or Largo Argentina, adapted to modern use despite being ancient. There are no precedents for such a history of adaption and reuse through millennia in America, so it was very special to witness that in Europe. ... It was quite an experience to walk through it as often as I did and see the various ways the community used it throughout the day, and I tried to capture that modern enjoyment in my sketch. Roman piazzas seem to have a unique ability to do that...”

A lifelong habit

As Hallet observed in the 1990s, when digital cameras initially seemed to crowd out sketching, the discipline of sketching held strong. But what about today and the exponential growth in the use of AI? Hallet is still sanguine about the future of sketching and those who develop the practice. 

“The people who will not be replaced are the ones who are developing their eye and their head,” he declares.

But even closer to his heart is the practice of architectural sketching for the sake of its impact on the student, whatever his age. 

As he said of Darrel Rippeteau at the 2026 Stanley Hallet Sketchbook Awards, “But I must also share with you that even today, Darrel travels everywhere with a small sketchbook hidden in his pocket, and in the manner of our best student observers patiently pulls it out to record the architecture encountered along the way.”