Drift is a multi-sensory invitation to meet the River Clyde.

“Along the Broomielaw, four stations invite you to experience the river through touch, sound, sight and smell. Through the smell of the sea at low tide, the texture of a railing, the acoustics beneath a bridge and the light on the water at the right moment.

Drift cards speak in the river’s own voice, guiding you between stations without telling you what you’ll find. Clyde’s Logbook is found in cafés, libraries and public
spaces across the city. It travels with you through the experience, recording what you discover along the way.

There is no fixed route.
No destination.
The river decides what you encounter and when.
All you have to do is pause.”

This project explores how people might reconnect with the River Clyde through a more-than-human and multi-sensory experience. Rather than presenting the river as a backdrop or a historical object, the project approaches the Clyde as an active participant with its own rhythms, memories and presence.

Through research into psychogeography, ecology, public interaction and place-based storytelling, the project proposes a series of sensory encounters designed to encourage slower observation and renewed attention. The developed outcome focuses on listening as one example station within a wider multi-sensory framework. Visitors are invited to engage with a curated soundtrack that reveals hidden layers of the river; including traces of shipbuilding, environmental change and contemporary soundscapes. Supported by a physical speaker amplifier, interface concept and accompanying printed artefacts.

Alongside this, the Clyde’s Logbook and drifting cards act as interpretive tools, encouraging reflection, curiosity and moments of pause. Together, these elements create an experience that asks: what changes when we stop ignoring the river, and begin looking to it instead?

Rather than explaining the Clyde, the project creates space for people to notice, imagine and build new relationships with it, ultimately encouraging a renewed sense of appreciation, pride and emotional connection, allowing the river to once again feel special within everyday life.