Press review
Article on DECORMAG
Read the Decormag article on Maryse Leduc
Mathieu Dion, “Bâtir pour l’avenir / Building for the future”, EBMW, Spring/Summer 2015
Nicole Charest, “The house of painter Louis Boudreault”, Chez-soi, April 22, 2015
http://www.casatv.ca/publications/chez-soi/la-maison-du-peintre-louis-boudreault
Carole Thibaudeau, “Foire de l’environnement et de l’écohabitation: prendre le pouls des maisons écolos”, La Presse, June 7, 2014
Lucie Dumoulin and André Fauteux, “Mould: The unwelcome guests”, The 21st Century Home, vol. 20, no. 4, Fall 2013
Carole Thibaudeau, “La foire de l’habitation écolo”, La Presse, September 18, 2013
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/immobilier/201309/18/01-4690529-la-foire-de-lhabitation-ecolo.php
Catherine Richer, “Maryse Leduc: a woman of action,” Surface, July-August-September 2014
“Is solar photovoltaic electricity cost-effective?”, Electricity Plus, June 5, 2013.
https://electricite-plus.com/2013/06/05/lelectricite-solaire-photovoltaique-est-elle-rentable/
Violaine Ballivy, “Une foire à l’avant-garde,” La Presse, May 23, 2013
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/immobilier/201305/23/01-4653726-une-foire-a-lavant-garde.php
Dominique Lemoine, “Maryse Leduc – Architect like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci,” portailconstructo.com, February 18, 2013
Alexis de Gheldere, “Full of sunshine,” Imagine, New Energy File, vol. 4, no.4, summer 2012
Didier P. Ayel, “La nature sur mesure”, Casa, dossier chez-soi, 22 August 2011
http://www.casatv.ca/publications/chez-soi/la-nature-sur-mesure/page-1
In the same notebook:
Pierre Gingras, “Deux femmes sur le chantier”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, June 4, 2011.
Carole Thibaudeau, “Maison LEED, maison santé!”, La Presse.ca, June 4, 2011
Carole Thibaudeau, “Maryse Leduc, femme-orchestre”, La Presse, June 4, 2011
Maryse Leduc was one of the first, 25 years ago, to promote the concept of a healthy and ecological house. “I used to look like an enlightened person reading labels!” This forward-thinking architect, whom the community agrees is gifted, recently signed the 1,000th project in a career devoted to single-family homes of all categories, including renovations, with particular leadership in country homes and private estate design. Interview with a pioneer who is moving us forward.
David Nathan, “Maryse Leduc Architecte, la passion verte”, Nouveau Défi inc, vol. 1, no. 3, February 2010
Valérie R. Carbonneau, ” Maryse Leduc, une tête à plusieurs chapeaux “, La Réussite, August 13, 2009
Yves Rivard, “A website is good. A successful site is better”, Surface, vol. 25, no. 1, January-February-March 2009
Maurice Rochette, ” Maryse Leduc, architect: From concept to implementation of exclusive ecological houses “, Le nouveau défi, vol. 5, no. 1, February 2008
PDF
Marie-France Léger, ” Des chalets pour tous les goûts “, La Presse, February 5, 2007.
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/immobilier/200702/05/01-869995-des-chalets-pour-tous-les-gouts.php
Cécile Gladel, “Ecological products: the best choices”, La Presse, February 5, 2007
Joane Sciotto, “Sur la route des couleurs: Visite guidée de la maison-galerie du peintre Louis Boudreault”, Décoration chez-soi, Hors série, no. 12, 2006
Danielle Bonneau, “Oasis in nature”, La Presse, November 1, 2006
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/immobilier/200611/01/01-869704-oasis-dans-la-nature.php
Custom-designed by architect Maryse Leduc, the house incorporates many of the principles of green architecture: it is oriented according to the path of the sun; no materials are sourced from far away and many were reclaimed or recycled; the birch floor in the bedroom is made from trees cut from the land during road construction; as few trees as possible were cut down; the house does not have a basement because it would have required blasting; organic linseed oil was applied to the wood, which is ubiquitous; non-toxic paint was used; terracotta tiles were preferred in the solarium because they retain the sun’s warmth in winter. Terracotta tiles were also installed in the kitchen, dining room and living room, all around the masonry heater, as they store the heat produced, etc.
Cécile Gladel, “Les meilleurs produits écolos”, LaPresse, October 12, 2006
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/renovation/200610/12/01-869630-les-meilleurs-produits-ecolos.php
Danielle Bonneau, “Le liège, naturel et confortable”, La Presse, October 4, 2006
http://www.lapresse.ca/maison/decoration/200610/04/01-869598-le-liege-naturel-et-confortable.php
Danielle Bonneau, “Are cork and bamboo green?”, La Presse, October 4, 2006
Marc Larouche, “Le projet Pohénégamook sur le Lac est lancé”, Le Soleil, September 16, 2006
Danielle Bonneau, “Un écovillage à Pohénégamook”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, September 16, 2006
“Live in nature, Pohenegamook on the lake”, Pohenegamook.com, 2005
http://www.pohenegamook.com/psl2/fr/habitez/
Marie-France Léger, “Mon beau chalet”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, December 31, 2005.
“A cottage should bring us back to what we want to live and not necessarily to what we have lived. A cottage should bring us back to authenticity and to who we are,” explains Maryse Leduc. The architect does not like glitz. The woman who was the priestess of the ecological house 20 years ago swears by healthy materials, starting with wood. A wooden house is a house that breathes.
Simon Diotte, “Le défi vert dans l’habitation”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, February 19, 2005.
“We live in a society of abundance. As a result, we are distracted from what is really important. We should question our needs. For example, do we need such big houses? People still don’t realize that every housing decision has an impact on the environment,” she says.
Lucie Dumoulin, “Maryse Leduc and Angeline Spino: Les architectes-bâtisseuses”, La maison du 21e siècle, vol. 12, no.1, winter 2005
They are good houses, as they say, “good bread”. Inside, they have the warm blondness, thanks to the rather sumptuous marriage of wood, omnipresent, and natural light, delivered generously with an architectural design that fully relies on passive solar energy. On the outside, their colors seem to come straight out of our Laurentian forest catalog, while their structure often evokes the country classicism of New England, but in a very updated style. Maryse Leduc’s houses are alive and have a signature: many people say they can recognize them among all others. […] Beautiful healthy, ecological and solar solar energy, in the respect of the geobiology and feng-shui. Nothing less.
Alain Tittley, special collaboration with Maryse Leduc, “The New England Style”, My Cottage, Winter 2004, 59-62
“Tiffany Belanger House”, Interiors.
**Pascale Héroux, “Variations on the theme of white”, kitchens and bathrooms, Décoration chez-soi, 2001-2002
**Christian Bergeron, “La folie des grandeurs”, kitchens and bathrooms file, Décoration chez-soi, 2001-2002
Didier P. Ayel, “Architecture à vivre”, Décoration chez-soi, no. 249, July-August 2001, 74-82.
Myriam Gagnon, “Design in Architecture,” Interiors, November 2000.
Montreal International Interior Design Show, Activities, 2000.
Annabelle King, “Going green, by Energy efficient healthy houses”, The Gazette, October 14, 1999.
Annabelle King, “Old fashioned clean living,” The Gazette, October 14, 1999.
He had never considered himself a healthy-house enthusiast but after meeting Leduc-Cummings at her booth in a local home show, he was won over by her approach. ”When she explained her work to me, everything made sense; I made the connection between what I wanted and her philosophy about housing,” he said. Now that he had found someone who understood what he didn’t want and was actually implementing these ideas, King was hooked, and the two began the process of planning and building his house.
Anne Marie Sutton, “Better living, an ecological house”, Décoration chez-soi, no.228, June 1999.
Once she has seen the land, walked it up and down several times, discussed priorities regarding views, access, sunlight and the needs of her clients, Maryse is carried away by the project. […]With a sketchbook always at hand, she collates the first images that emerge from her mind. […] For architect Maryse Leduc-Cummings, a country house should not resemble a city or suburban house parachuted into the wilderness. Rather, it should display an atmosphere, a light, a unique cachet. And also to take advantage of the site, the views and the solar orientation, so that the land and the house enhance each other and you feel that one cannot go without the other.
“An ecological house. Slatkoff house, Lachute”, Décoration chez-soi, May 1999.
Wayne Hiltz, “Architect offers ecological housing”, L’Express Mont-Royal, February 1999.
Montreal International Interior Design Show, Activities, 1998.
George Galt, “The Eco Architect” (feature on Maryse Leduc’s homes), Harrowsmith Country Life, August 1998.
Danielle Brabant, “Un jardin sur la tête”, Guide Ressources, April 1997.
André Fauteux, “De vrais p’tits nids”, Guide Ressources, April 1997.
André Duchesne, “Salon national de l’habitation, des toits verdoyants et fleuris”, La Presse, March 1, 1997.
“Les toits végétaux”, Franc vert, March 1997.
In the same notebook:
André Duchesne, “La paille isolante, non toxique et peu coûteuse”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, January 25, 1997.
André Duchesne, “Une auberge-santé jusque les murs”, La Presse, “Mon toit” section, January 25, 1997.
Annabelle King, “Stuffed with straw: Ecologically sound inn has ‘sandwich’ walls,” The Gazette, “Home and Family” section, July 11, 1996.
André Fauteux, “Auberge À la croisée des chemins. La révolution de paille”, La maison du 21e siècle, July 1996.
André Duchesne, “Des maisons de paille et de terre”, La Presse, February 10, 1996, H12.
François Tanguay, “La révolution de paille”, La maison du 21e siècle, vol. 2, no. 5, August 1995.
In addition, Montreal architect Maryse Leduc-Cummings has just achieved a first in Quebec that could have many others. The Régie du bâtiment du Québec has just approved the construction of a public building made of straw bales, which it designed. […] In construction, the architect is always the person you don’t want to see! (Editor’s note: Many contractors perceive architects as intellectuals disconnected from their reality). But Maryse is an incredible girl. She gets involved in a project with her heart and soul. She is very sensitive to people’s needs. It took his experience and patience to develop an inn acceptable to the Building Authority.”
Article on “The Inn at the Crossroads”, The Mirror, January 1995.
In the same notebook:
Guy Pinard, “La maison écologique vue par Maryse Leduc-Cummings”, La Presse, “Habitat-design” section, January 28, 1995.
This project is the construction of the Maison Michaël, a reception center in Val-Morin for handicapped children and adolescents. This eco-friendly house is built of logs and lumber, with a masonry fireplace, a passive solar system and a tin roof that is grounded to eliminate the harmful effects of magnetic fields from a nearby Hydro-Quebec power line. […] [Maryse Leduc-Cummings] insists on using living, natural and non-toxic materials, materials that respect the environment and human nature, such as wood, terracotta, rock wool for insulation…
Guy Pinard, “La maison Duchêsnes : une symbiose avec la nature”, La Presse, “Habitat-design” section, January 28, 1995
Guy Pinard, “Expo Habitat, un dernier coup de cœur : la maison saine conçue par Maryse Leduc-Cummings”, La Presse, “Habitat-design” section, 14 January 1995
Faculté de l’Aménagement de l’Université de Montréal, ” La maison saine “, Aménagement 1995, 1995.
Annabelle King, “An inspired design. With green ideals, Montreal architect puts heart and soul into her buildings” (about Ceres House), The Gazette, “Home and Family” section, October 27, 1994.
“Trabajo y union Lankide”, Mondragon, Cooperation Cooperativa (about the Duchênes house), no. 378, March 1994.
André Fauteux, “Une maison écologique de rêve” (about the Duchêsnes house), Habitabec, vol. 18, no. 20, 17 September 1993.
André Fauteux, “A Montreal architect wins for her ecological home for the handicapped” (about the Michaël House, CMHC Award of Excellence), Habitabec, January 8, 1993.
“An award of excellence for Maryse Leduc-Cummings”, Le Courrier Laval, 1993.
“Prix de la SCHL à une architecte”, La Presse, January 2, 1993.
CMHC-CMHC, “Award Winner – La maison Michaël – Maryse Leduc-Cummings”, CMHC-CMHC 1992 Housing Awards, Independence through Housing, 1992.
Laurier Cloutier, “L’architecte Maryse Leduc a dû se battre contre les autorités pour construire la maison Michaël”, La Presse, April 7, 1990.
“The SHQ didn’t believe in my project and didn’t care about my ecological orientation. I almost gave up. But the SHQ is now delighted with the results. They ask me to give conferences to sensitize their architects and project managers. They think that I should work on the next reform of the building code. […] Maryse Leduc says that housing is “our third skin”. We have to take care of it.
Michel Larose, “Les recherches se poursuivent en géobiologie”, Habitabec, February 26, 1988.
- P. Bonhomme, ” Après la folie des grandeurs, les Français redécouvrent que Small is beautiful ” (about the conference held at the University of Montreal in the context of the housing scholarship), La Presse, ” Actuel ” section, 24 January 1987.
PUBLICATIONS
// TELEVISION INTERVIEWS
“Floors, green house and electric panel,” Telemag, Habitat-mag, March 13, 2015.
http://tele-mag.tv/emission/habitat-mag/Planchers-maison-ecolo-et-panneau-electrique
“Coup de pouce pour la planète – Maison verte”, TV5 Monde, Saturday, January 7, 2012
For 25 years, Maryse Leduc has been building green homes in Quebec. Authenticity, durability, quality, respect for the needs and budgets of everyone are the guidelines of this architect when she designs. Healthy homes that are also more durable and will even look better as they age.
“Every choice we make, whether it’s a construction or a renovation, we can say to ourselves, ‘Is there a greener alternative and at what price?’ (…) Health is priceless, well-being is priceless, so it’s a choice.”
Lloyd Pasqualetti, “People of Architecture – Part 2”, CinéFête, 2012
**CD somewhere
“Building Green”, Téléjournal de Radio-Canada, December 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTZ-_nNB08
“Building Green”, TV5 Monde, December 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTZ-_nNB08
/ RADIO INTERVIEWS
“Expert-conseil : la rénovation verte”, Radio-Canada, première chaîne, Interview for the program “L’après-midi porte conseil”, February 24, 2011
// PUBLICATIONS
“Inspirational placemaking: from dreaming to blissing a successful project,” The 21st Century Home, vol. 18, no. 2, Spring 2011.
Building a house is a life project, where you can allow yourself to dream, to imagine the life you really want to live, to get closer to your ideals.
Alain Tittley, special collaboration with Maryse Leduc, “The passive solar house: connected to nature”, Mon chalet, winter 2005, 50-53
“Straw bale insulation: Green homes in kits,” The 21st Century Home vol. 4, no. 3, May 1997, 10-11.
“Introduction” for the “My Living Environment” section and “Ecological House” article, Guide du Québec en santé, March 1997. (Maryse Leduc was then director of the “My Living Environment” section)
The place where we live reflects our personality, it is our anchor, our root, our center of the world. It is also our third skin – the other two being our epidermis and our clothes. Beyond appearances, behind the scenes, there is a link between our health and our habitat: the air we breathe, the electromagnetic fields to which we are exposed, the positive or negative ions present in the air, the presence or absence of sunlight, the nature of the soil… all these parameters have an impact on our quality of life, our comfort and our health.
“The Return of the Plank Square,” The 21st Century Home, vol. 4, no. 2, March 1997.
“Living Homes: The Three Skins,” The 21st Century Home, vol. 4, no. 1, January-February 1997.
“Of place and bundles…,” The 21st Century House, vol. 3, no. 7, December 1996.
The act of building, of constructing, of edifying deserves respect, since it participates in the creation of the world, in space and in time. Digging the earth, pouring concrete, erecting a column, fixing a beam, carpentry a roof, dressing walls, sanding a floor, wrapping half-timberings, paving a hinge, nailing a frame, oiling a molding, so many gestures potentially imbued with poetry, where the love of a job well done seems to be mysteriously impregnated in the material to make it radiate, to the delight of all the senses, from the visual to the tactile, up to this palpable sensation of the beloved places.
“Place d’Armes, vol. II”, Montreal, Conception-Éditions ARC (book-model), 1993-1996.
http://www.copticarchitecture.com/a.htm
“Place d’Armes, vol. I”, Montreal, Conception-Éditions ARC (book-model), 1993-1996.
http://www.copticarchitecture.com/a.htm
“A Roof Between Heaven and Earth,” Part 2, The 21st Century Home, vol. 2, no. 7, November 1995.
“A Roof Between Heaven and Earth,” Part 1, The 21st Century Home, vol. 2, no. 6, September 1995.
“These places that inhabit us,” The 21st Century Home, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1994.
The ecological dimension of architecture cannot be reduced solely to the question of the use of non-toxic materials or to any technique, however ancient or avant-garde it may be. The original meaning of the word ecology – oikos in Greek = science of the house – refers to the relationship between humans and their habitat. The concern to build a healthy, harmonious and living environment requires a global approach considering the human being in all its dimensions: physical, psychological, dreamlike, spiritual. Humans have their physical needs, of course, but also their symbols, their dreams, their aspirations.
“Lectures of the city: Montreal in literature”, Continuity, no. 55, Winter 1993, 9-13.
Maryse Leduc and Denys Marchand, ” Les maisons de Montréal “, Ministère des Affaires culturelles et Ville de Montréal, collection Mémoires pour l’an 2000: Montréal, son histoire et son patrimoine, 1992.
Available at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal – Mediatheque
Charter for doctoral students at the Université de Montréal, Faculty of Planning, Université de Montréal, 1990.
Bulletin of the Quebec Association of Geobiology, numbers 1 to 7.
“Architecture of the in-between. An Architectural Poem,” History and Theory Graduate Studio, McGill School of Architecture, 1988.
“International Housing Workshop 1987: projects”, ARQ (Architecture Québec), no. 33, October 1987.
“Classicism, modernity and post-modernity,” Continuity, no. 34, Winter 1987.
// CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS
The 21st century house, 1997-2003
1997: “Geobiology: choice of the land, implantation of the house”, “Interior finishes
Green Tuesdays, Ordre des Architectes du Québec, 1993-2013
Salon expo habitat 2015
Ecohabitation Conference 2014-2015-
Fall Home Show 2014
“25 years of ecological houses”, Salon écosphère 2010-2011-2012-2013-2014-2015-
Cottage and Country Home Show 2008-2009-2010-2011-2012-2013
National Home Show 1993 to present
// TEACHING
Heritage Montreal 1992-1998 to be verified
University of Montreal 1987-1995
Lecturer in the Bachelor of Architecture program
Lecturer in Interior Design
Lecturer for the Interior Design Certificate
Cégep du Vieux-Montréal 1980-1990
Lecturer in architectural technology
// OTHER ACTIVITIES
Énergie solaire Québec, Excursion #11: Visit of 5 passive solar houses by Maryse Leduc in the Eastern Townships, April 9, 2011
http://www.esq.qc.ca/files/archive-mar-2011.html
Annual Green House Day: Montreal, Quebec, Eastern Townships and Laurentians, October 18, 2008
DISTINCTIONS
2015
Finalist
Ecological construction and/or renovation of residential buildings
APCHQ Domus Award, 32nd edition
2013
Finalist
Construction and/or renovation with an ecological character
and
Single-family home construction of $260,000 and less than $500,000
APCHQ Domus Award, 30th edition
2012
Finalist
Single-family home construction of $260,000 and less than $500,000
APCHQ Domus Award, 29th edition
2011
Finalist
Single-family home construction over $225,000 and under $350,000
APCHQ Domus Award, 28th edition
2010
Finalist
Single-family home construction over $350,000 and under $750,000
APCHQ Domus Award, 27th edition
2009
Finalist
APCHQ Domus Award, 26th edition
2008
Finalist
APCHQ Domus Award, 25th edition
2007
Finalist
Project and/or residential development of the year, single family
APCHQ Domus Award, 24th edition
2001
Award of Excellence
Renovation and architectural integration
City of Saint-Lambert
1994
Mention: Named best student of architecture technique at a tribute evening
Cégep du Vieux Montréal
1992
Award of Excellence
“Creation and design”
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
1989
Passed with distinction on the entrance exam
Ordre des architectes du Québec
1988-1993
Doctoral and Master’s Scholarships with Honours
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
1987
Mention of “high architectural acrobatics”.
International housing workshop UQAM
1987
Honours: Named top student of the class of 1982-1986 in the Bachelor of Architecture program at the Convocation
University of Montréal
1986
Medal of Excellence
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC)
1986
Residential Travel Grant
University of Montreal, with Groupe St-Jacques, Prével, Cardinal and Hardy, architects and urban planners
1982
Design Excellence Award
Ordre des Architectes du Québec and Musée des Arts Décoratifs
1980
Travel grant in France for home renovation
Office franco-québécois pour la jeunesse (French-Quebec Office for Youth)