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Hugo Kogan, the inventor of the “Magiclick” lighter, died: he was 88 years old

Hugo Kogan was a benchmark for design in Latin America (IDA Foundation)

On June 12, Hugo Koganthe creator of “magiclick” He was going to celebrate his 89th birthday, but fate did not allow it, since he died on Saturday afternoon in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, for reasons that were not revealed by his relatives.

The industrial designer marked his passage through this life by gaining popularity in 1963, when he launched the invention that revolutionized the way of lighting Buenos Aires kitchens. The name of the famous lighter arose from the fact that it only needed to press a button, for the spark to ignite. At that time, the creator was 29 years old and worked as director of the design department of the Argentine company Aurora.

“With the Magiclick, I was at the right time and place. A new technology on which a contemporary design was mounted in a market dry for novelties and innovation for many years ”, she evaluated. In fact, the product became part of the collective imagination, since this title was originally intended to advertise it. Sixty years later, it is undeniable that the image of Kogan’s creation does not come to mind when hearing about the spark that, in its beginnings, promised that it would last ‘for 104 years’”, Kogan recounted some time ago.

According to information from telam, the lighter was developed thanks to the piezoelectric experimentation that had begun in the factory, since it was the fashionable phenomenon to generate electrical charges through subjecting crystals to mechanical stress. Likewise, the company did not have faith in the success that innovation could achieve, so they launched only 5,000 units, without imagining that the orders would be 80,000 devices per month.

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This is what the first “Magiclick” looked like, launched in 1963 (IDA Foundation)

Over time, the lighter began to adopt different versions, since the improvements in the device allowed it to use butane gas as fuel, which helped the flame to stay lit independently. However, the most widespread was the one that generates a spark capable of lighting a kitchen burner.

Curiously, Kogan’s death occurred ten days after the design benchmark was cited in the Buenos Aires Legislature to receive the recognition of Outstanding Personality in the field of Science and Technology. “This country needs more Hugo Kogan to get ahead and what a wonderful example he gives us,” said Vamos Juntos deputy María Cecilia Ferrero, who was behind the project to honor the inventor’s career, according to data collected by pure city.

Hugo Kogan in his act of recognition in the Buenos Aires Legislature (Pura Ciudad)

To date, Kogan has become one of the most important figures in the world of industrial design in Latin America, for which he received the award on three occasions (1992, 2002 and 2012). Konex Award as one of the best designers of the decade. In addition, he knew how to be a member of the academic commission that was in charge of creating the careers of Industrial design y Graphic design in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism (FADU)of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

From FADU’s official Instagram account, the house of higher studies mourned the loss of the iconic designer by publishing a statement in honor of his career. “The Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism says goodbye to industrial designer Hugo Kogan, a professor at this university and a great benchmark for Industrial Design in Latin America with great regret,” the publication reported, after announcing that he had received the title of “Doctor Honoris Causa”. from the UBA.

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2023-05-28 16:07:30
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