Paul Hogan

Paul J. Hogan (1927-2021)

US-American carpenter, playground expert, consultant for playground saftey

„In 1958, I began work as a teacher’s aid at my children’s nursery school. When I took my wife’s place in the cooperative Charlestown Playschool in SE Pennsylvania, I was assigned to the playground rather than the classroom. Being a contractor, I saw the need for a complete overhaul of the decrepit and unsafe playground. I began working with the preschoolers to bring the play area up to modern and safe standards. […]

Over the years I have designed and constructed over 450 playgrounds, from Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific to Leningrad in the former Soviet Union and all points in between. I have written two major books and numerous articles on playground development, use and safety issues involving play. […]

Beginning of the playground-activites (excerpt)

1972-1973 Directed the Playgrounds For Free program to provide play and other recreational activities for the children of victims who lost their homes in Hurricane Agnes (Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs).

1964 Developed and ran a vocational training program for 100 high school dropouts. This was the first pilot project of the War on Poverty. The project was under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania Human Resources Program under the direction of Dr. Howard Mitchell.

1960-1962 Director of Construction, Neighborhood Renewal Corps, under NRC’s president, former Governor of Pennsylvania Milton Shapp. Worked with community leaders and youth groups in Philadelphia. Built playgrounds on vacant and abandoned lots in inner city with the help of local residents and the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspection’s Open Spaces program.

Publications

International Play Journal, England
The Nuts & Bolts of Playground Construction, Leisure Press, 1984
Playplans, bi-monthly magazine, 1976-78
A Brief History of Children’s Play, Playground Press
Ways to Play (co-author), Rodale Press, 1975
Playgrounds for Free, MIT Press, 1974

erstellt am 28.11.2011, up-date 28.12.2019