(b Nieszawa, Kujawy, 26 March 1867; d Warsaw, 30 Sept 1928). Polish draughtsman, architect, painter and teacher. He studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg from 1886 to 1895 and in 1895–7 made a study tour in Europe. From 1899 to 1907 he lectured in the history of art at the Stroganoff School, Moscow, and then in the architecture department of the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Moscow. He took an active part in the artistic life of Russia and was appointed a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, in 1914. His friends included Alexandre Benois and Serge Diaghilev and he also collaborated with Kazimir Malevich. In 1918 he returned to Poland, becoming Professor of the History of Modern Architecture at the Polytechnic, Warsaw, from 1919. From 1923 he also lectured in the history of art at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Although early in his career he occasionally worked on original architectural designs, he later ceased to do so, and his main activity, apart from teaching, was the production of several hundreds of architectural fantasy drawings. These were mostly executed in India ink or watercolour and depict interiors and buildings from Assyrian to modern times, but Noakowski was particularly inspired by medieval Russian and later Polish architecture. His subjects were not actual buildings but rather the atmosphere, mood and character of a particular style, delivered with great skill. He published some selections of these drawings, notably Architektura polska: Szkice kompozycyjne [Polish architecture: composite sketches] and Zamki i palace polskie [Polish castles and palaces]. Through these he came to be regarded as an important figure in the revival of vernacular architecture in Poland in the 1920s. His other interests included interior decoration, furniture and stage design.

• Noakowski, Stanislaw
  • Poland, §II, 3: Architecture, after c 1700