Aderyn Rhydd

Aderyn Rhydd in Welsh means Free Bird and explores the region around the North of mid Wales. Restricted in the West by the Irish sea and in the North by the mountains of Snowdonia, the area signifies freedom to its residents; freedom to breathe, freedom for self-expression within art and poetry; or freedom to allow oneself to live an alternative lifestyle.

Living remotely within the rural idyll during the 70’s and 80’s, mid Wales used to signify the place to escape from the increasingly hectic cities in Britain. Opposing the modern economic system it was the incomers intention to preserve traditions, and to use technologies in an environmentally sustainable way. In contemporary mid Wales this significant environmental impact remains and identifies the area.

Mid Wales is the place where traditions are highly valued. People strive to attain natural resources from the countryside and to preserve and relearn the Welsh language.

Socio-geographically there isn’t a motorway in Wales which connects the South with the North, mid Wales remains as the outlying space in between.

Each individual in this project finds themselves existing in an unconventional independent residence away from others. Without the comforts of a normal home, they sustain themselves with power, water and firewood which are available from the land and the installed solar panels.

To dwell on someones property relies on a mutual agreement between landowner and inhabitant. With the UK housing prices on the rise these people have decided to live an alternative lifestyle by giving up the comforts of a traditional home. They pay a low rent and their living spaces are small. But these unconventional houses are full of little details. The diversity of the landscape – the sea, the woods, the flatland – is mirrored in each inhabitants interior and stands for the peoples affection for the idyllic landscape in mid Wales.