Graciella Lim

Pulse Beneath the Drift reimagines the transit spaces of Tanjong Pagar MRT station as a responsive, human-centred environment shaped by rhythm and emotion.

It transforms everyday commuting into a layered sensory journey, where movement, light and materiality interact to create shifting spatial experiences.

Through gradients of engagement from fast-paced circulation to intimate pauses. The project softens the intensity of urban flow, offering moments of psychological relief while maintaining continuity, efficiency and a cohesive spatial narrative.

The project utilises the concept of a 'Pulse Field' as a spatial and emotional gradient mapped along Tunnel F at Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

Each overlapping circle represents a zone of intensified commuter experience, where movement is not constant but fluctuates in rhythm and pressure.

Beginning with detached and autopilot, the field is slower and more passive, reflecting habitual motion. As commuters progress, the field compresses into rushed and pressured states, where density and urgency increase, shown through tighter overlaps and warmer tones. At the peak, mentally overload represents the highest intensity within the field where sensory and psychological pressure accumulates.

Beyond this point, the field begins to release, transitioning into relief and finally anticipation, marked by cooler tones and expanded spacing. Rather than a linear corridor. the tunnel operates as a pulsating field condition, where emotions expand, overlap and dissipate.

The design responds to these pulses, inserting spatial and sensory interventions that align with each emotional threshold, transforming movement into an experiential rhythm.