"Buildingsroman" by Auguste

John lives in an abandoned building, the old technical college in Volvic. John is poor, and he is tired of this sad place. Nobody wants to live here. It was abandoned ten years ago. “Why did they leave?” John often asks himself…

After a few years, John is ready to leave too. He has managed to save a bit of money, enough to travel to the USA. He wants to live the “American dream.” He is going to take the plane to New York City!

Coming out of the airport, John takes his first photo of the Promised Land. It’s a bright day. The skyscrapers are overwhelming. John rests in a park.

The buildings are all very different. Each one had its own architect. Some are very tall indeed and very thin. Others are small and squat. Some are old, some are high-tech. The one on the left is very modern, with a lot of glass and iron. The big one on the right is made of bricks. John is very impressed by how tall some of the buildings are.

In the busy street, John feels small and insignificant. The buildings are very impressive, he thinks, but some of them look like the ones he knows back home. The brick structure on the left in the foreground is pretty similar to his old abandoned college in Volvic.

John takes the plane back to France. He is determined to ask the Mayor of Volvic to restore his old squat. John thinks we should rehabilitate charming old buildings, like in New York, where old and new stand together.