In 1926 German physician, artist and writer Fritz Kahn created this fascinating chromolithograph of the human body and it’s imaginary inner workings. Conceived at a time when Germany was a world leader in the chemicals industry, Der Mensch als Industriepalast (Man as Industrial Palace) compartmentalized the body, creating rooms where workers diligently carried out the circulatory, digestive, metabolic and respiratory work of the body. In this modernist view of anatomy each input, be it air or food, was broken down into it’s individual elements.

After being forgotten for many years, Henning Lenderer, a German visual communication and animation student, has recently breathed new life into the classic poster. Illustrating 6 different cycles within the “human factory,” he created a captivating and highly detailed animation of the poster as it has never been seen before. Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of this post and his full presentation of the project at industriepalast.com.

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