SINGAPORE — Don’t be deceived by the seemingly lifeless state of the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station — simply download an app on your smartphone and watch it come to life.

Called 15 Stations, it’s a project under the Singapore International Festival Of Arts’ pre-fest event The OPEN where visitors can explore the iconic place using an augmented reality app.

Written by Christopher Fok and developed together with students from Nanyang Technological University’s School Of Art, Design and Media (NTU-ADM), the app can let you explore three “routes” at the station, which you can access via three- and two-dimensional “triggers” such as posters or the facade of the railway station itself.

“It’s about the idea of using the space as a site of re-enacting, reactivating and reanimating memory,” said theatre-maker and The OPEN director Noorlinah Mohamed, who organised the entire project. “Because memories are triggered by sites, objects and sounds, they are, in that sense, very fleeting. And I find augmented reality an excellent medium because the way we remember things is (in itself) actually an augmentation of reality.”

The first route looks to the station’s past and will incorporate images from the National Archives. “It’s a way to view the station from its own point of view. It bears witness to some milestones such as the Japanese occupation (in World War II) and of National Servicemen leaving for training in Malaysia in 1965,” said Noorlinah.

Another route was inspired by the story of a real-life regular passenger in the 1970s, a nurse at the Singapore General Hospital who would regularly take weekend trips to Malaysia for two years just to be with her Malaysian husband.

The final route, meanwhile, looks to the future, featuring works by 11 NTU ADM students — who have never stepped foot inside the railway station before working on 15 Stations. The students have created eight animation works imagining the possible futures of the station, including its conversion into a church, a garden, a village or a “friendship station”.

Some works also have a fantastical bent to them. Noorlinah shared how a pair of students felt a lingering sense of “death” upon entering the premises. “Their animation was about sending trains and lanterns into the heavens,” she said, adding that there’s actually a “fourth route” — people can take their own photographs of the place (and one can also contribute personal memories via the app, which then appears in the 15 Stations Facebook page).

Whether it’s a glimpse of the past or a possible future, Noorlinah said the stories surrounding the iconic railway station in 15 Stations all talk about “human needs to find a place of solace and comfort”.

15 Stations is from on June 17 to July 4, from 7pm to 10pm (June 17), noon to 10pm (Tues to Sat) and noon to 6pm (Sun), at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. Free admission with The OPEN Pass. Limited single entry tickets available at the door. For more info, visit https://sifa.sg/theopen/