Canyoneaustrate, Fountain sculpture on the Bercy sports hall esplanade, Paris, France

The Canyoneaustrate is a fountain on the east esplanade of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy, in the 12th arrondissement. It centres on a 40-metre-square overflow water mirror whose corner holds a hollow concrete sculpture dropping 5 metres, like a gorge. Water spills in cascades over the stepped strata of its walls. The raw white concrete, tinted to the colour of Paris stone, was cast in full-size expanded-polystyrene moulds worked with a flame.

Commissioned by the City of Paris from the painter and visual artist Gérard Singer (1929–2007), the Canyoneaustrate was inaugurated in October 1988 by mayor Jacques Chirac on the east esplanade of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Half of its cost was covered by sponsors including Banque Worms, Lafarge Ciments, Lyonnaise des Eaux, Trèves SA and UAP. Construction was directed by André Beaune.

The name Canyoneaustrate, chosen by Gérard Singer, contracts the words canyon, eau (water) and strate (stratum), naming the stepped concrete faces down which the basin water cascades. The work stands on the esplanade of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy, not in the neighbouring Parc de Bercy.

The fountain stands on the eastern esplanade of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy, between the sports hall and the Parc de Bercy, in the 12th arrondissement. It is a public outdoor work, so it can be viewed at any hour from the surrounding paved esplanade; the 40-metre water mirror and the 5-metre-deep sculpted gorge are best seen by walking around the basin's edge.

The sculpture's forms were cast from full-size negative moulds of expanded polystyrene shaped with a flame, a technique Gérard Singer invented for this work. The concrete was left raw and tinted to the colour of Paris stone. Half the funding came from six sponsors, among them Lafarge Ciments and Lyonnaise des Eaux.