Save Parentesen — Preserve the student corridors!

Parentesen was built in 1964 and has for over sixty years been a stronghold for student life in Lund. The housing accommodates 306 students divided into 20 corridors. Countless students have moved in and out since the housing was inaugurated, but the soul of student life and the distinctive sense of community in the area have always been preserved. Now, a process has been started to put an end to this.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, AF Bostäder (AFB) announced via email to all residents that it is no longer considered "financially justifiable" to maintain the area, and that a redevelopment into apartments is therefore planned for autumn 2027 at the earliest. Last year, six out of twelve balconies at Parentesen were completely renovated, and residents were informed as recently as May 2026 that the remaining balconies would undergo the same maintenance starting in August 2026. For us residents, this indicated a long-term plan for Parentesen. We find it contradictory that it is suddenly presented to us as financially unjustifiable to renovate Parentesen, and to instead carry out a redevelopment into apartments without a clearer justification. We fully support a refurbishment of Parentesen and do not see how a complete redevelopment would be the only way forward.

Parentesen is unique and possesses a deep cultural and symbolic value that extends far beyond its physical brick walls. It is a place that touches all students in Lund, whether they live at the address themselves or not, as the area has come to personify the very epitome of student life in Lund. For generations, Lund students have met and stuck together within the two parenthesis-shaped buildings. It is a completely unique social environment created by this specific architecture, an environment that has been cherished by the residents for decades. Since 1985, the residents have, on their own initiative, organized Parranbollen, the annual rounders tournament played over two weeks in May, which AFB itself also supports with equipment and prizes. It is therefore well known to all of Lund, including AFB, what kind of culture permeates Parentesen.

When you think about what it is like to study in Lund, it is precisely environments like Parentesen that you think of. Replacing these common areas, courtyards, and student corridors with individualistic apartments is about much more than losing a form of housing; it is about a loss of the city's unique identity. If we tear down our living symbols and lose the community-promoting ideal that the area was once built upon, Lund ultimately risks losing its charm and becoming less attractive to potential future students. We believe that Lund and its students thrive best with more of the communal.

We are starting this petition to save our home, an institution of irreplaceable cultural value and one of Lund's most accessible student housings in a fantastic, but crowded and expensive city.