Catène de Containers

The Catene de Containers

The Le Havre audio-guided tour reveals the Catene de Containers, a monumental and unusual sculpture made of containers, a true symbol of a great port city. Made of two intertwined, multicoloured arches, it surprises and stays in the memory.

A work for Le Havre's 500 years

The Catene was designed by the artist Vincent Ganivet for the five hundred years of the city, in 2017. To build it, he borrowed a technique dear to the Catalan architect Gaudi, called the catenary, which makes it possible to form self-supporting arches. The work, made of stacks of coloured containers, weighs nearly two hundred and eighty-eight tonnes and rises to about thirty metres.

What there is to see

With its brightly coloured containers stacked in two crossing arches, the Catene is unique and pays tribute to the port activity of Le Havre, the second port in France. Set at the entrance to the marina, it has become a landmark and an essential photo stop, a symbol of the city turned towards the sea.

Practical information

The Catene de Containers can be seen freely, in the open air, at the entrance to the Le Havre marina, near the Andre Malraux Museum of Modern Art. It is accessible at any time and free of charge. It is a quick and photogenic stop, during the walk along the seafront.

Who made the Catene de Containers ?

The artist Vincent Ganivet, for the five hundred years of Le Havre in 2017, drawing on the catenary technique dear to Gaudi.

What is the Catene de Containers made of ?

Of coloured containers stacked in two intertwined arches, a symbol of the port activity of Le Havre.