Paul Lewandowski

B.ARCH 1989, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | prl@figure19.com | Left Handed

I am an architect and fiber artist living in Portland, Maine. My architectural practice focuses on residential design and community-based commercial work. My grandparents emigrated from Quebec and worked in the textile mills of Lewiston, Maine. My lifelong engagement with fiber, sewing, craft, and design began with the materials I discovered in their basement.

I began knotting at age twelve, and it has remained a lifelong passion. My recent work explores three-dimensional form through both ordered and chaotic structures. This left-brain/right-brain process, central to my experience as an architect, is manifest in my pieces. I am strongly influenced by place and nature, particularly the marine environment in which I grew up.

My practice crosses the boundaries of art, craft, and design, encompassing drawing and sketching, textile and clothing design, knotting, and tufting. I have also developed a series of daily colored-pencil studies of natural objects, using close observation to explore their color, texture, and form.

EXHIBITIONS & SHOWS

2024 · Fantastic Fibers, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, Kentucky

2024 · String Theory, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Yarmouth, Massachusetts

2023 · Folklore, IIDA New England Fashion Show, Boston, Best Use of Material

2022 · Common Thread, Geneva Center for the Arts, Geneva, Illinois

2022 · Emerge, IIDA New England Fashion Show, Boston, Best Interpretation of Theme

2013 · Solo Show, LA Gallery, Lewiston, Maine

HONORS

2025 · MaineAIA Design Awards, Citation Award, Notch House

2025 · New Hampshire Homes, Modern House of the Year, Notch House

2023 · IIDA New England Business Leader Honoree

2019 · MaineAIA Design Awards and People’s Choice Award, Nectar

2017 · IIDA New England Design Awards, 305 Commercial Street Studio

1983 · Atari Star Award, First Place, Educational Software Programming

PRESS & PUBLICATIONS

2025 · DWELL Magazine, Notch House

2024 · Maine Home+Design, 317 Main Community Music Center

2023 · Maine Home+Design, 73 Federal Street Renovation

2019 · Maine Home+Design, “Material Impact”

2016 · Contract Magazine, Best of NeoCon juror interview

2014 · Healthcare Design Magazine, cover, MaineGeneral Hospital

2012 · Marie Claire, Project Runway casting-call finalists

2005 · Martha Stewart Living, Roach Guest House

Architectural Record, Simon’s Rock College, Fisher Center