UNLOCK: ALEX 13 arr – Sci-Fi Renaissance
-Want some Pizza?
One of few things in this apartment that Alex seems to not have put a detailed thought behind is cooking, but on the other hand, isn’t that part of the concept for an urban, bachelor lifestyle? Yes, let’s call it branding. Actually, when I first get here Alex is not even home, he is dating the city. Finally, he comes back with some bottled water.
– On a normal day, I spend around 6 or 8 hours here. That is the hours when I’m awake. Add sleeping time to that and you’ll get something like 12 hours.
–Describe the style of the apartment
– I’m a huge fan of classic science-fiction; I wanted the living room to be plain and mostly black and white. Sort of a design thing; contemporary or 70s like, I love that era. On the contrary, I wanted my bedroom to feel a lot more crowded and darker. Something in between an old English pub and the flats you can see in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, where old things mingle with technology in a sort of techno-renaissance style. In the end, I decorated the living room full of pop culture, full of colors and crammed with visuals, Then I set on to build something different for the bedroom, while keeping true to the marronish-greyish colors from those Blade Runner flats I first had in mind.
–Do you like living alone?
– Yes, I am kind of the lonely type; I can’t say I miss sharing a space with others, like I did in New York where I spent 6 months.-
But, when it comes to cooking, couldn’t it be nice to share? Your fridge is empty.
– Yeah, it’s true that I’m not that fond of cooking – well, at least not for myself.
When I’m with someone – especially a girl or my current girlfriend – it gets a bit different. I guess people could tell whether I’m currently single or not simply by having a glimpse at my fridge!
– Why did you choose to live in this area?
– I have only lived here for 2 months and I like it a lot. To me, it’s the best part of the 13th arrondissement, with narrow old streets like in the 5th arrondissement, unlike the back part of the 13th and its huge towers. It’s a lot more quiet than in Austerlitz where I was before… Last but not least, there’s a Domino’s Pizza right around the corner and an automatic movie renting machine a couple of streets up.
– Haha, more pizza, great, ever think about breakfast?
– Sure, I’m having breakfast the globalized-lazy-capitalist-industrialized way: I eat cereals with milk.
When I’ve thought of buying some, I also drink a glass of fruit juice with it.
As for the cereals themselves, they’re Special Ks, because they remind me of that song from Placebo, and because they contain the highest dose of proteins. Yes, I went into the trouble of comparing those funny nutrition indications on boxes.
– Impressive! Is there anything missing in here?
– I was thinking of a small carpet for my coffee table in the living room, because wood on wood looks a bit strange to me, however, it might be a lot less convenient than it actually is: I have asthma and allergies… Let me know if you come up with an idea.
– I will! In the meantime… I’ll go check out the bathroom if you don’t mind, that globalized-lazy-capitalist-industrialized water you served me had an instant effect.
Alex is a 25-year-old strategic planner, or as he says himself: “I tell stories”, his job is to find how to catch people’s attention through relevant advertising. He lives in the 13th arrondissement and his interests range from computers and video-games to social sciences, with movies in between. Contact Alex
MINI COSMOPOLITANS - A PERSONAL PARIS VIEW 