Building Beautifully Guest Speaker

On Monday the 28th of October, Fort Street had the opportunity to welcome Sharath Mahendran, creator of the Building Beautifully YouTube channel, to the school for a brief yet exciting visit. Sharath’s channel has accumulated over 45,000 subscribers, primarily creating content around public transport, urban planning and the housing crisis in Sydney.

Sharath was welcomed to the school by Luka (Year 12), Jethro (Year 9) and Jem (Year 7), who accompanied him on a brief tour around the Wilkins and Kilgour buildings, whereafter he spoke in the lecture theatre to two Year 9 Geography classes about their current topic, ‘Changing Places’. In an informative Q&A, Sharath answered questions from eager students, providing his perspective on Sydney’s housing crisis, revitalisation of the ‘Stroad’ Parramatta Road and his support for increased housing density in Sydney.

At lunch, the lecture theatre was opened to the other grades. Answering diverse questions ranging from the feasibility of high speed rail to his proposals for future metro lines, Sharath provided insights into creative solutions to Sydney’s housing crisis and urban planning challenges. He additionally shared his inspirational journey of leaving medicine to pursue his passion in civil engineering and starting his youtube channel, Building Beautifully, which has gained incredible success in raising awareness of urban planning decisions within Australia.

Students of all ages came to hear Sharath speak, with many staying behind for autographs and photos. It’s fair to say that he was a celebrity amongst the students! We’d like to thank Sharath again for coming and sharing his knowledge with us.

By Luka Penney (Y12) and Jethro Shapiro-Liu (Y9)