In early 1974, at age of 18, Horacio Pagani entered the course of Industrial Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the National University of La Plata. He settled in the city, 450 km away from Casilda, in a typical residence for students, with the intention of spending there the next five years of his life. At the time, Argentina was shaken by political unrest. The course attended by Horacio was discontinued during the academic year because of the repeated suspension of the classes.
The year after La Plata opened with the same problems, thus Horacio decided to attend the course of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Rosario. However, as months passed, a gradual sense of frustration took over his soul: all that he had always been more passionate about seemed now light years away.
He had experienced firsthand the pleasure of starting from a simple sketch, then refine it, identify new aesthetic horizons and harmonize them with the technical possibilities, selecting suitable materials, creating the most exquisite hand work, until finally see the realization of a fascinating object. He realized that theory, however important it was, would eventually steal five of the most creative years of his life. No university faculty could satisfy him fully, no one taught both art and science, as preached by Leonardo. It was then clear that his future was not in the distant university classrooms, but in Casilda, with the intent to continue his apprenticeship as an autodidact.