We are pleased to have Thilo von Debschitz from Germany in our next SenseMaker Dialogs to speak on Fritz Kahn. Born in 1888, Fritz Kahn was a doctor and a world-famous popular science writer who illustrated the form and function of the human body with spectacular, modern industrial analogies. Kahn's magnum opus, the five-volume series Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of Man), was published in 1922 to international accolade; his intricate and elegant depictions of the human body as a functioning machine influenced artists and scientists for decades to come. Fritz Lang's film Metropolis was greatly inspired by Fritz Kahn's aesthetic.

However, Fritz Kahn's sucess was abruptly ended when the Nazis rose to power. Because of the oppressive censorship during the Third Reich, most of the works by Fritz Kahn, a Jewish intellectual, were banned, publicly burned and destroyed. In pursuit of Kahn's nearly lost legacy, Thilo and his sister Uta tracked down rare gems in second-hand books stores, combed international archives, and followed biographical leads from far-flung sources. The result is the first monograph about Fritz Kahn published worldwide, Fritz Kahn: Man Machine, which Thilo will speak about on September 21.

BONUS: Original Fritz Kahn drawings from the Humantific Collection will be shown!

Thilo von Debschitz, a German designer and art director, worked at well-known international advertising and design agencies before founding his own creative agency Q in 1997. Q has won numerous national and international awards and honors, such as the European Design Award in 2011, in communication design, interactive design, and print design. 

In addition to his agency business, Thilo von Debschitz enjoys editorial projects. His recent, most passionate book project was initiated by mere chance and published in collaboration with his sister, Uta: Fritz Kahn–Man Machine, the first monograph about Dr. Fritz Kahn (1888-1968). Fritz Kahn–Man Machine offers readers an overview of the life and work of Fritz Kahn, a pioneer of information design, whose genius lay in his ability to bring clarity to the mysteries of nature through analogies, metaphors, and humor. At the SenseMaker Dialogs, Thilo von Debschitz will not only present an introduction to Fritz Kahn, but also discuss cognitive visual concepts by other creative thinkers, some of whom have been influenced by Fritz Kahn’s work. 


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