Design Map · Eindhoven
Soft Transit
Graduation project by Robyn Sonntag at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
‘Soft Transit’ is a series of prototypes for train interiors, designed with the purpose of making long-distance train travel more attractive. As object studies, the speculative prototypes consider space, time and social function, while the effective use of the journey time becomes a driving factor. Designer Robyn Sonntag considers trains as inhabited spaces and tackles the perception of comfort and privacy as luxury by proposing four distinct spatial environments: ‘Shelter’, ‘Focus’, ‘Gather’ and ‘Pause’. Restructuring the class system, these conditions are expressed through variations in seating arrangements, enclosure, materiality and lighting. The project is presented through a 1:1 prototype of the ‘Shelter’ design, allowing visitors to experience the proposed interior at full scale. By shifting attention from movement alone to the experience of the journey, ‘Soft Transit’ asks whether the quality of time spent in transit should also become part of the conversation about the future of rail travel.