Suite de triangles, Anamorphic installation artwork in Saint-Nazaire, France

Suite de Triangles is a 2007 anamorphosis by Swiss artist Felice Varini, painted directly onto port structures such as silos, sheds and roofs around Saint-Nazaire harbour. Its red triangles, some on white grounds, align into a single horizontal line of alternating triangles only from one spot on the panoramic terrace atop the fortified lock leading to the Saint-Nazaire basin. The painted elements span about 2 km.

Created in 2007 by Felice Varini for the Estuaire project, which displayed artworks along the Loire estuary, the installation was initially intended to be temporary. The municipality later decided to keep it permanently and repainted it the same year.

The triangles form part of a visual language that connects the viewer to the industrial port landscape through simple geometric shapes. The work transforms how people perceive their everyday surroundings, encouraging them to see the built environment as an artistic canvas rather than just functional structures.

The coherent form appears only from one precise spot on the panoramic terrace on the roof of the fortified lock leading to the Saint-Nazaire basin, not from the submarine base roof. The painted triangles lie on silos, sheds and roofs around the port, so the rest of the work is seen by walking the harbour area.

The installation spans approximately 2 kilometers and ranks among the largest projects Felice Varini has created. The work is designed so that its complete form is visible only from a single viewpoint, emphasizing how perspective fundamentally shapes what we see.