Luce Eekman

Eekman attended the École alsacienne before earning a diploma from the École Spéciale d'Architecture.^[1] While there, she received praise for her work surveying Thoronet Abbey.^[2] She received notoriety for her work restoring La Pagode [fr], a former cinema in Paris.^[3] In 1972, she was tasked by Louis Malle to construct a teahouse in a Japanese garden.^[4][5] In doing so, she constructed a cinema room that contained 175 seats.^[6] A plaque at the teahouse was affixed to the entrance of the cinema room honoring her and her co-architect François Debulois.^[7] In April 2011, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University student Aïda Menouer wrote a thesis on Eekman's work, titled La Pagode, de la salle de réception au cinéma d'art et d'essai.^[8]

Eekman's principal works^[9][10] included Le Diable des Lombards in The Marais,^[11] the apartments of Louis Malle and his brother Vincent [fr],^[12] the Photogalerie,^[13] and an apartment building on Rue Delambre [fr] in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.^[14]

While at the École alsacienne, Eekman befriended future film director Yannick Bellon and appeared in his film Quelque part quelqu'un [fr].^[15] She was close to the theatre troupe Les Théophiliens,^[16] as well as Roger Planchon's Théâtre National Populaire. In 1975, she performed in the play Enluminures autour des minutes du procès de Gilles de Rais at the Théâtre Essaïon [fr].^[17]

Eekman was the daughter of Flemish painter Nicolas Eekman and Andrée Herrenschmidt. In her father's honor, she founded Le Sillon Nicolas Eekman.^[18] The association published monographies on the painter^[19] and organized exhibits.^[20] One such exhibition was held by the Fondation Taylor [fr].^[21]

Luce Eekman died in Paris on 2 February 2025, at the age of 91.^[22]