CHINANAGOLAND

A thread factory from 1886, in the woods of Catalonia, coming back to life as a place for art and intellectual discussion.

Les Planes d’Hostoles, Garrotxa Spun thread 1886–2012 Rebuilding since 2024

What this is

We bought a ruin on purpose.

In 1886 this building began spinning cotton thread beside a river at the edge of the Garrotxa volcanic park. It ran continuously for 126 years, until it closed in 2012.

In April 2024 we bought the whole complex and started turning it into an arts residence, a forum, and somewhere the people helping out on the project can come and enjoy. It is being rebuilt slowly and in public.

Nothing here is a render. The solar is installed. The volcanic-soil gardens are already giving us vegetables year round. And the factory’s former workers still come back each July for the Mare de Déu del Carme celebration — which they held every year the factory was working, and which we restarted in 2024.

It isn’t finished. That is rather the point — you are early.

The place

Ninety minutes from Barcelona,
thirty from Girona airport.

The 1886 factory building, stone and render, backed by wooded hillside — The factory, from the road in.

A waterfall falling into a green pool over pale rock — Gorg de les Bruixes, next door.

The same waterfall lit green at night — And the same water, at night.

An empty industrial hall with a corrugated roof and skylights — One of the halls, before.

A figure silhouetted in a doorway of the factory, walls washed in green and red light — Light tests inside the shell.

A group of people lying on blue mats on the factory floor during a performance — *Humans Being Time* — a 24-hour performance on the factory floor.

Get involved

Come and be part of it.

We are always glad of extra hands — building, planting, cooking, filming, or simply turning up for an event. If you have a question, an idea, or time to give, write to us.

The factory is also available as a location for shoots, events and rehearsals. It is one of the ways the rebuild pays for itself, and the rooms photograph extremely well.

Get in touch Location enquiries

Support the rebuild

Chinanagoland is run as a cultural association. Anything given goes straight into the building — materials, tools, and the next stage of the work. The wishlist is the most direct way to help: you buy the thing, it arrives here.

Make a donation See the wishlist

Stay close

We’re filming the whole rebuild.

Light tests, events, residencies, the occasional twenty-four-hour performance. Leave an email and we’ll write when something happens — and never pass your address on to anyone.

Thank you — you’re on the list.