English/Dutch/French edition. Petra Pferdmenges is one of Europe's practice research pioneers in the field of architecture and urban planning. Her work focuses on the complex and vulnerable neighbourhoods in Brussels, and constantly switches back and forth between bottom-up and top-down urban projects. Her strategy is to motivate the local people to take matters into their own hands and bring new life to their neighbourhood. This publication shows how Pferdmenges' practice came into being, like a sort of Bildungsroman: it starts with some examples of classic public space design and then shows how she became more of a curator, bringing together diverse parties and forces acting in the public space.