Urban Exploration - The Extinction Factory

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is a visit to an abandoned factory located in the Drôme. Curiously enough, it is almost impossible to find reliable information about it, and yet the site is immense. It was used for silk throwing (moulinage) as well as weaving to produce draperies.

The site consists of numerous relatively recent hangars, where one can feel that the architecture resulted from an accumulation over the decades. The factory was established in January 1955 and operated under three different company names. Old postcards show that silk activity was already underway in the early 1900s. However, those photos do not correspond to our factory at all; it was a different location.

Throughout its operation, the company successively absorbed the assets of other throwing mills in the sector. This contributed to the factory's expansion. Two subsidiaries in Valence were closed in 1989 and 2002, and another mill was absorbed in 2009. A turbulent history.

In 1984, a fire ravaged a building facing the road; it was never rebuilt and is today overgrown with quaking aspens. At its peak, the factory employed 300 people. The exact closing date of this place is unknown to us. Since then, the site has suffered a devastating fire in the rear hangar. The location is regularly squatted and subject to vandalism.

"Imminent Extinction" is a reference to a very well-executed skull graffiti and the name given to the site by Sokebana. It has never been closer to the truth: an extreme of decadence. In a way, it is even more astonishing to see that our recent industry leaves no trace—it was virtually impossible to trace its history—witnessing the futility and sterility of our modern industrial society.