Living in Lund: Parentesen

N.B: This entry is a part of a series of student accommodation reviews directed at new students looking for apartments in Lund. Lund(on) Times is not affiliated with AF Bostäder, LU Accommodation or any other apartment rental service. More visual material may be added in the future. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Pros	Cons
+ Social, active student life	- Loud, noisy, can be overwhelming
+ Affordable (~2,900 SEK per month)	- Shared kitchens & showers
+ Spaces open up quickly	- Many unfurnished rooms
+ Close to southern campus, town, nations (location on map)	- Far away from northern campus, large supermarkets

Click here for AFB's information on Parentesen.

The apartment I painstakingly acquired for myself at the beginning of the 2014 Fall semester has all in all delivered extremely comfortable living conditions. Then again, having experienced the level of dilapidation defining Scottish infrastructure, my standards were alarmingly low last autumn. Fortunately, hot water, insulation, and double glazed windows are taken for granted in this part of Europe. Good thing for me, as I can focus on describing more relevant things in terms of practical living.

Figure 14. Interior of the room (what a transformation). Approximately 17m² not including bathroom.

The choice for corridor sizes in Parentesen is 10 or 19 people altogether. Each corridor has rooms facing the courtyard (noise hazard alert) and the outer arc. As far as I know, its hard to tell during the application process which way you will be facing. With 18 others living with you, Parentesen is one of the most densely populated AFB buildings there is, yet the rooms are around the same size as in the larger apartment complexes (see upcoming reviews on Delfi and Sparta). The space is surprisingly adaptable, and can comfortably fit a double bed, desk, sofa and even a TV. The personal bathrooms are cramped but they serve their purpose. A few rooms have their own shower, but most residents have to share the two communal showers on each side of the corridor. So even with a large amount of people to share the common areas with, you can create your own peaceful (quiet not guaranteed) corner away from your studies and social obligations.

Figure 15. The corridor itself, and the bathroom. Paired for unclear reasons.

The communal living room is large and spacious. With furniture pointed towards the TV, the homelike atmosphere in the lounge area is guaranteed. Not withstanding the ground floor corridors, all Parentesen lounges are divided between two opposing corridors on the same floor. Residents from each side have a small kitchen space to cook in. Believe me when I say small. Even with the divide putting 9-10 people on each side, cooking with just three other people at the same time is already uncomfortable. However, since people in their early 20's are still waiting to discover their functional daily rhythm, there are not too many times when you have three people going hungry at once.

Figure 16. The kitchen and living room (top photos). The balcony and view of the courtyard (lower photos).

The Parentesen community among the Swedes is a tight one. Many people over their years here have found friends across hallways, other floors, and different blocks entirely. I mention this because the rotation of international students is fast and unforgiving. However, this is another advantage for new applicants. Spaces open up every semester, meaning that this will probably be one of your best bets for student accommodation.

Parentesen is known as one of the party centrals of Lund student life for a good reason. During the Freshers week (Swedish: novischveckan; Finnish: fuksiviikko) in September and January, there is a guaranteed chance of loud pre-, regular, and after parties for every night of the week. The open grass area in the middle is an ideal place for summertime beers and hanging out. Furthermore, Parentesen has an annual spring brännboll (a softball-like sport that is essentially a drinking game) tournament which has been going on since the 1970s. Each corridor forms a team to compete against the other corridors in a festival of unadulterated sports and merriment. The winners win the privilege of organizing next years tournament, while the losers have to deal with the mess produced during the several days of alcohol fueled pseudo-sports. Pictures of this event can be found on the Brännboll på Parentesen -FB page.

For the young and young-minded students looking for an affordable room where they are close to the action, Parentesen is an excellent choice. Especially if you do not mind a bit of a mess indoors or outdoors and are willing to pick up after others every now and then, this is a good place to move into to start living your new student life. Everything can happen here. It is the magic of Södra Esplanaden and the grace of the local law enforcement that creates the conditions for this veritable Neverland of AFB accomodation to exist.