Introduction
This year for Project Utopia we had the privilege to work with Nicole Lockwood when redesigning the Fremantle Port. This project focussed on our ability to express our understanding of sustainability, liveability, and the UN Global Goals. Through this my group decided on a water market located in the pre-existing miniature harbour, next to North Mole Drive. This project all started in English when we were reading The Giver. This novel was based on a utopian society. When redesigning the Fremantle port there was a real-life scenario in which we could create a utopian society. The project was integrated through Humanities, English, Science and InnovatED. Throughout this project we got to talk with some special visitors. This included Chandra Sundarenswaran, Jason Pitman and Tabitha McMullan who all specialised in different things and helped us through this project.
ASC Capabilities
Throughout this project I focused on four of the ASC capabilities. These include effective communication, being collaborative, staying organised and being as creative as possible.
Effective Communication
Effective Communication was one capability that I focussed heavily on as in previous projects my group members and I haven’t always communicated properly. That is where our problem solving came. However, it usually resulted in us not finishing on time. However, in this project I made sure I knew what was required of me. An example of this is when I had to take our vision board home over the weekend to get the base done. I made sure I got this done by ensuring that I prioritised finishing it. In the end I got the vision board back to school on time and finished.
Collaboration
I feel that being Collaborative is a very good skill to have in life. For this reason, I chose to focus on my collaborative skills throughout this project. Being able to collaborate and work well with others is extremly important no matter what you do in life. In previous years I have found it difficult to work with others as I prefer to work alone. I have since learned to work well with others as during this project I learned the importance of group work and how helpful it can be. One example of this would be when we initially chose what we wanted to do. Each of us had really good ideas that were creative, out of the box and unique. However, after we shared our ideas, everyone added things to each to make them amazing. Eventually we decided on an idea that had an element of each person’s idea. This made me realise that everyone is great by themselves but amazing if we collaborate.
Nicole giving detail on the project 
Organisation
In the past, I have found it challenging to stay Organised when it comes to school projects. When doing this project, I wanted to focus on this as I would need all the resources, I used for marking, or even if my group members wanted to look at them. For example, when we were doing all the research needed for this task, I had to keep links to websites. To make sure I did this and didn’t lose any of them, I made sure I copied and pasted each of the website links to one place. This helped me in not losing any links and allowing my group members to know exactly where I was getting all my information from.
Creativity
Creativity was a key element in this project. The reason it was so important is because when coming up with our design, we needed to make sure that we weren’t creating something that has already been done. An example of this would be the bin system we decided on. These bins are called the big belly bins and are sustainable. These are solar powered bins that compress the rubbish. This ensures that more rubbish can fit in. Once the bin is full it sends a message to the owner that it needs to be emptied. This would be useful as the power it is using is to compress the rubbish is solar power. Therefore, this would not be using any excess energy.
UN Global Goals
The UN Global Goals are a set of universal goals and targets that apply to everyone in which outlines a vision for the future of people and the planet. There are 17 Global Goals that are hopefully to be solved in 2030. Within this there were 17 that we could choose from. In this project we focussed on incorporating the UN Global Goals that we felt were related to our project. My group decided on the goals 8 and 11, which are decent work and economic growth and sustainable cities and communities.
Global Goal 8
Global Goal 8 was chosen, as markets can provide a substantial amount of job opportunities for a range of ages. My group and I felt that it was important to create a space in which people and tourists could have fun while business owners can run their businesses. As there would be good paying jobs, the business owners would be able to live nearby. Therefore, they wouldn’t have to drive to work each day. This would reduce the amount of people driving to work on a daily basis.
Global Goal 11
We chose Global Goal 11 because our utopian society ultimately had to be sustainable. So, we felt that we could make some tiny changes on our design to ensure that we kept our community sustainable. We looked for examples of technology or innovation that would ensure our utopian society had as small an environmental footprint as possible. We included elements like big belly bins and solar shades to provide energy for the market.
Public Speaking
At the end of Term 3 we had to present our vision board along with a speech to the parents. Before presenting to them we got to present it to the class. Through this I learnt the importance of preparation and confidence. Therefore, I tried to write and memorise my entire speech and the layout of the vision board for presenting to the parents. Preparation and confidence did help me feel calm when presenting to the parents. However, I quickly realised that the two experiences were completely different, as when presenting to the class it was very structured but, presenting to the parents was more like a conversation. I feel one thing that helped me a lot through the public speaking were my palm cards. Using palm cards made me feel more confident as it reassured me that if I got nervous and forgot my speech, I would have something to fall back on. At times I relied too much on my palm cards as I got more nervous. However, I am still learning to use them properly and hopefully getting more confident.
Conclusion
Therefore, the redesign of Fremantle Port assisted in developing essential life skills including collaboration, effective communication, creativity, and organisation. Additionally, this project prepared us with real life issues concerning the UN Global Goals, that will be of extreme importance in the future. When working with Nicole Lockwood we got an insight into the real world and what architects must do for a job. I feel privileged that we had the opportunity to redesign a space while learning and developing as a person.