A asked me to write a short ‘critique’ commenting on parallel practices. How do you keep up with doing countless hours of unpaid work? What about the lack of (financial) resources for self-initiated projects? What is the price of idealism? And how could we better frame and finance parallel practices so that they become sustainable and (if desired) institutionalised? The questions come at an ironic moment; I have just submitted a grant application for a scholarship from the Flemish Arts Decree. The title is: ‘Between provocation and production, towards a sustainable alternative architectural practice’. So I have been wrestling with the same questions for weeks, not just from the comfort of my critical chair, but above all out of necessity. The reality is that it remains difficult to guarantee an independent and critical research and design practice, despite all the grants and platforms for emerging talent. After all, who wants to hear critical questions about the ins and outs of urban politics and applied architecture and urban planning practice?

No one, might be the disapproving answer to that question. And yet I am repeatedly convinced and inspired by the role of the ‘uninvited outsider’. Because that is how my position sometimes feels in a practice that consists of 90 per cent self-initiated research and (counter) projects. The role of the Uninvited Outsider, a term coined by Markus Miessen, refers to those who, with critical proximity, attempt to question the default mode of operation from the sidelines, outside the agendas and power relations of the established order and experts within the field. Why is this important? I see it as an essential part of the democratic process to make valuable insights public, with the aim of changing unjust processes.