The Building Exhibition

Tin.: Building Trades' Exhibition, opened last week by Mr. Ormsby-Gore, First Commissioner of Works, closes next

Wednesday. It is well worth a visit, especially by those readers of the Spectator who are interested in the problem of providing new homes for old.

The Exhibition is, of course, primarily organized so- that architects, builders and members of the associated trades may have the opportunity otseeing of first hand the latest materials and machinery. A tour of the stands, admirably designed for the most part by a number of architects, must convince any visitor that the leaders of the industry are very much alive.

On one stand I was told that the sales, for the first !six months of this year, of a British-made wall-board were higher than at any similar period. At another stand are photo- graphs showing how a company produces four million bricks a day. Firms with a world-wide reputation in the steel "industry are offering ingeniously designed cranes and weight indlcators. Specialists in sound insulation and sound absorbing treatment show their products. Precast concrete tiles, made at Dagenham, are being delivered- in the Persian

Gulf, West Africa and South America. Over 12,000 open coke fires have already been installed in South London. These are

a few examples out of many to prove -that the Building Exhibition, with its wealth of ideas, must give us confidence for the future, even if the present is not so bright.

At the official opening last week, .by far the most eloquent and pluckiest speech was made by Mr. Thomas Barron, the President of the National Federation of Building Trades' Operatives, who made no secret of the grave situation of the industry. Owing to the necessity of economy, public works to the value of at least £50,000,000 have been postponed. or abandoned. Mr. Barron pointed out how many of the 9,000,000 men who normally derive their livelihood from building and its associated industries, are out of work. Pro- fessional architects, engineers and surveyors have never been so slack as they are to-day. We may hope that these evils may be partly remedied by the campaign now being planned, which is designed to point out to both public bodies and private building owners that the cost of-building is -now lower than it has been at any time since 1920, and that it is therefore an economical time to build.

The majority of the building exhibits, are, of course, technical in interest, and in any case there is not space here to do justice

to them all. But any reader of the Spectator, who is seriously

studying the slum housing problem should try to visit the Housing Exhibition organized by London Housing Societies, in the gallery at Olympia. It is, in my view, the most impres- sive, the best .arranged and the most comprehensive housing exhibition,yet seen in this country. It is not too big, and the charts are not too involved. The models must awaken the dullest imagination to realise something of What it means to be one of the 2,000,000 children still living under slum con- ditions. The Chamber of Horrors will be an eye-opener to those who refuse to face the unpleasant-facts about our housing situation, while the photographs and plans show what has been done.

We should be grateful -to- the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the ' New Homes for Old " Exhibition, Miss E. M. Denby, of the Kensington Housing Association ; to the Hon. Secretary, Miss Elizabeth Alington, the daughter of the Headmaster of Eton ;. to Miss Kathleen Ingram, of the Under-Forty Club for the Reconditioning Exhibit ; to Miss, Avice Trench for the Slum Section ; to Miss Abram, who gives a bird's-eye view of loWn-planning ; to Lady Pentland and many others whose work behind the scenes for voluntary housing in general, and for this . exhibition in particular, deserves the highest possible praise.

As many readers of the Spectator may be unable, during the short time that the Housing Exhibition still remains open,

to see it for themselves at Olympia, they may be glad to know that the models, photographs and plans will willingly be lent so that they may be shown in other parts of the country.

The Exhibition may be borrowed for propaganda purposes by any responsible body, and full particulars may be obtained from Miss E, Alington, The Cloisters,- Etbit College, Windsor. It is planned to be portable, general in application; and popular in appeal.

But those who can possibly go to Olympia are advised to do so, for Mr. Greville Montgomery, who has been responsible for the Building Trades' Exhibition for over thirty years, has this year performed a real national service in combining. downstairs a show of the wonderful things which the building industry can do, and upstairs a proof of the reality of the need, and of the demand for small houses. Without indulging -in any sensational stunts such as have made some so-called Ideal Home Exhibitions of little permanent value, Mr. Montgomery has this year provided a well-balanced exhibition, which will have an influence upon public opinion, judging from the t iousands attending, that will be immeasurable.

B. S. TOWNROE.