Evening star., 1935-09-08

4 MINATED and improved, the
~ long-neglected diorama is be-
~ ing revived in this country
and Washington, center of
many activities, is harboring one of
the most active of the new diorama
studios.
Diorama artistry has been so long
forgotten in the United States that
the term itself has become unfamiliar
to American ears, but it now appears
that the business is due for a great
deal of attention in the near future.
A diorama Is nothing more than
miniature model, having perspective,
and placed in a setting which gives
it an atmosphere of naturalness. The
current revival of diorama making has
brought with it the introduction of
moving parts to the models, and so
successful has this innovation been
that it appears that future dioramas
may include animation as a rule
rather than an exception.
The local center of the business is
an entire wing of one of the old
Temporary" Government buildings on
Seventh street, where Charles Plastow,
diorama artist for the Interior De-
partment, has his Office His studio
consists of a large room furnished
with desk, few chairs. work table,
and metal and woodworking machin-
cry. Wall cabinets contain an assort-
ment of paints and putty, wires, nails
and screws, moss and lichen gathered
from trees, branches of peculiar shapes,
various kinds of wood, electrical
equipment and other miscellany.
THE output of this studio to date
has consisted of a group of dio-
ramaS which has proved fascinating
attraction wherever it has been shown.
Some of them went to the Chicago
Fair to show the public in a way that
would be remembered a few of the
activities Of the Federal Government.
Some of those same dioramas, and
some new ones, are now at the San
Diego Exhibition. Another group will
go to the Texas Centennial next year.
AS an example, consider the before
and after" dioramaS of the housing
exhibit now at San Diego-before and
after the Interior Departments hous-
ing division has done its work. They
show the inside of typical apartment
in a crowded slum. The rooms are
small, and too few, so that the largest
of them must serve as kitchen, living
room. dining room and at night
sleeping room. Detailed models of
stove, table, chairs and kitchen equip
ment show the living arrangements
to be inadequate and inconvenient
The light is poor, as are the ventila-
ton and the sanitary arrangements
The man of the house tries to read
newspaper by the dim light which
comes through the one window. Chill
dren play on a rough wooden floor,
which because of its splintery condi-
ton, cannot possibly be kept clean.
The bed rooms are equally meager
In their furnishings and equally de-
pressing. Clothing is hung up to dry
on improvised clotheslines stretched
across one room The place is fire.
trap because of its one, exit down
narrow stairs which serves a number
Of apartments on various floors, and
It Is altogether not the sort of home
which is likely to produce good Amer
tcan citizens.
The after" model is another story
It shows the same family housed in
one Of the proposed model apartments.
There is room enough so that only
the bed rooms need serve for Sleep
ing quarters and there is a kitchen
and a living room There is private
bath room, a luxury which this family
has never known, and there is ade-
quate closet space, another item this
wife and mother has only dreamed
of heretofore. The building is lighted
by electricity and an automatic re-
frigerator helps keep down expenses
by preserving food. Furniture, cur
tains and wall coverings are cheap
but attractive, and the members Of
the family appear immeasurably hap
pier and healthier than they did in
the old surroundings.
Another part of this same exhibit
shows the outside Of modern low
cost housing project, side by side
with an old-type tenement, an ar