Utopia Reflection
‘’We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.” The giver, Page 30. Project Utopia was announced after reading The giver, this inspired us to create ‘the perfect Fremantle’. The giver portrays a world without emotion, individuality, and love, Jonus lived in a community he didn’t feel safe or pleased to be in. The community tried so hard to create the perfect Utopian place, they took away some of the most valuable things to a human life. We strived to incorporate our learning from the giver into our section of Fremantle port. To achieve this, we focused on a variety of different aspects to enhance the port. Such as liveability, diversity, Geographical concepts, sustainability and the un global goals. Our knowledge was tested when presenting our vision board, showcasing out public speaking skills. Whilst displaying behaviour from the asc capability wheel.
How did we incorporate liveability into the project?
Liveability was a common concept throughout the project. The purpose of this was to take the learning around liveability and apply it to both our plan and final product. Including some of the factors, such as sustainability, walkability and transport. These are the three main factors that we prioritized, I leant how vital they are for a liveable place and how they are displayed around Perth. Every week, a couple guest speakers assisted us on during the project. I learnt a lot from them and each of their specialties. Their expertise made to process easier and gave us inspiration along the way. We learnt that an important part of liveability is housing. Boxy houses is what we tried to avoid because it takes away the homey feel to a neighbourhood. Whilst keeping decent space between them, by doing this people will have more privacy and feel more comfortable. Including a mixture of both modern and rustic designs. This will bring unique housing to the Fremantle area, therefore pleasing all age groups. Something else I learnt was to please all age groups, we did by adding space out front for things like swing sets, trampolines and more.
How did the global goals inspire us?
In addition to inspiration, the global goals were an essential feature in this project. We attempted to include all the goal but prioritized four goals. Sustainability cities and communities (11), innovation and info structure (9), renewable energy (7) and good jobs and economic growth (8). I learnt adding things like adding entertainment, restaurants and more can significantly impact goal eight. After planning, we concluded that solar energy would be the most practical renewable energy for Fremantle. I realized it was the most used renewable energy source in the world. This relates to goal number 7, (renewable energy). Seeing how unattractive the Rainbow bridge area was also inspired me and how it could potentially be something beautiful. When we visited the rainbow bridge area on our excursion, some of us noticed that the area was dirty, and we wanted to change this if we want Fremantle port to thrive in the future.
Global Goals
How did we factor in geographical concepts?
During the project I realised we need to consider weather and climate, I learnt this is something that can impact every part of the port, including the plants we decided to put in the rainbow bridge area. The guest speakers suggested we include plants that will be able to survive the hot summer of Australia, but also plants that are low maintenance. They will also be able to survive in winter. We made sure to include tall trees so that we are able to look through and see the river not just tree branches. We have aesthetically pleasing plants that will brighten up the area and add colours as well make the area more modern and aesthetically pleasing. It will also freshen up a place and make it look new. I gained an understanding of how to decorate the port to ensure it looks beautiful, neat and well maintained.
Area we focused on
Refining Transport
I learnt that cars have an significant impact on the environment. This is why electric cars are starting to become more popular. Although the use of cars around Fremantle are to be eliminated. At first, I was worried and confused because it’s the biggest form of transport. Later I learnt, there are many other ways of sustainable transport. Such as buggies, e-scooter, e-bike and e-skateboard. We thought these things would be suitable for all age groups for example, old people and young kids could use buggies, teenagers could use electric skateboards or scooters and adults could use anything. Another big way of transportation that we think we should ad in Fremantle would be having a ferry. A ferry would be very useful for people of all ages and it can travel them from one side of Fremantle to another.
Vision Board
Public speaking skills
Overall, my public speaking skills have improved, but I think I could work on increasing my volume and using more expression while I’m talking. And potentially saying a bit more information. I gained and understanding on how to keep the viewers interested and entertained. One aspect of this is body language, which I think I did a good job while presenting. I expected to use the visual aids more, which would have helped me remember more information. I should have used the vision board to prompt me, instead of memorising information, which I eventually forgot, this is something I struggled with. For the most part, I did well, with just a few things to work on.