Arts Thread

Collaborative Project developed by: Elena Ramírez, Carla Roca, Berta Bruguera, Sito Blanc. MANTO is a sustainable spatial project in Cerezales del Condado, León, Spain, that explores solutions to the global issue of wool waste and its accumulation, investigating how this material can be revalued and given new uses. The project creates a space for research, experimentation, learning and knowledge exchange, bringing together different professional profiles through laboratories, shearing areas, workshops and machinery spaces. Most of the interior elements designed use wool in its different applications, showcasing wool’s potential throughout the space. At the heart of the project is the “Filandón”, a central space inspired by a traditional Leonese practice where women would gather to knit, preserve local culture and transmit knowledge. In MANTO, this tradition is reinterpreted as a space for meeting, exchanging ideas and collectively generating knowledge around wool. The upper floor is dedicated to human users, including residential spaces, while the ground floor is conceived as a shared environment where humans and sheep can coexist. Measures such as draining earth flooring and minimal corners ensure the animals’ comfort. A system of walkways and multiple access points connects both levels, allowing users to move through the building while gaining an atmospheric view of the activity taking place below. MANTO brings research, craftsmanship, livestock and community together to find sustainable solutions to global wool waste.