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Shenu: Hydrolemic System

Turning artificial organs into water bottles of the future

Shenu is a series of artificial organs designed to conserve the amount of water necessary to sustain human life. It responds to the brief given by an exhibition at dOCUMENTA(13) where Takram was tasked to design a water bottle in a hypothetical, dilapidated earth environment a hundred years in the future.

In a world where the water supply is limited, the water bottle, which presumes the abundant water supply, did not seem a logical solution. Instead, we came to a hypothesis that, perhaps, if the amount of water coming out of a human body can be minimized, it would effectively minimize human water consumption. This problem reframing allowed us to reassess the human body as a water container, leading to the concept of designing artificial organs.

THE ARTIFICIAL ORGANS

Rubedo Candies
A capsule taken five times a day that supplies 32 ml of water as well as a minimum amount of necessary nutrients and hormones

Nasal Cavity Inserts
Apparatus for keeping water from escaping the body by condensing exhaled breath into dew

Arterial-Jugular Heat Exchangers
Artificial blood vessels for generating electricity using the excess blood temperature to power the Neck Collar

Heat Irradiant Neck Collar
A collar-shaped radiator that cools the body by converting electricity into heat that is then radiated into environment

Urine Concentrator
An apparatus implanted inside the bladder to concentrate urine and send extracted water to the kidneys

Renal Fecular Dehydrator
An apparatus for the rectum to efficiently return water extracted from feces to the large intestines

Team

Project Lead:
Kinya Tagawa
Concept Development:
Kotaro Watanabe
Design:

Kaz Yoneda (ex-Takram)

Art Direction:

Moon Kyungwon

,

Jeon Joonho

Project Lead & Concept Development (until 2011):

Motohide Hatanaka (ex-Takram)

Photograph:

Naohiro Tsukada

Figure Artwork:

Bryan Christie (with the addition of organ rendering by Takram)

Special Thanks:

Form Corporation

,

Nichinan Group

,

Masaru Nagamine of Nagamine Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Tokyo

Onden Imaizumi BLDG
5-7-4 Jingumae
Shibuya-ku
150-0001 Tokyo, JAPAN

London

First Floor
7 Bath Place
London EC2A 3DR, UK

New York

68 Jay Street, Suite 432, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA

Shanghai

109, 18F, L'Avenue
No.99, Xianxia Road, Changning District
Shanghai, China