In 1905, Dirk Frederik Slothouwer, who was born in the Dutch East Indies, graduated from the Delft Polytechnic School and in 1926 he was appointed full professor there. Today, he is perhaps still known as the writer of various books on the history of architecture. Besides his book about the palaces of Frederik Hendrik, his study of Dutch Renaissance in Denmark is especially noteworthy. With this study he obtained his doctorate in Delft in 1924, making him the first construction engineer to earn

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... that title. His dissertation was mainly the result of literature study and of several journeys Slothouwer undertook to the Scandinavian country. Already in 1906, Slothouwer had taken part in the Prix de Rome competition. There were three candidates and eventually J.M. van der Mey took first prize. Three years later, Slothouwer entered the competition again. This time he was the only competitor, affected was interpreted by many as an unambiguous sign that interest in taking part in the competition was waning. Nevertheless, the jury was of the opinion that the work he had submitted and realized met their expectations and he was awarded a sum of money that enabled him to travel through Europe for three years. He did have to report regularly and have his drawings judged by the director of the Dutch National Academy of Fine Arts. These drawings and measurements were presented to a wider audience in exhibitions. Slothouwer use these opportunities to make a name for himself. The finest drawings were displayed, accompanied by short explanatory texts. He also regularly published articles about his experiences in various trade journals. Thanks to documentation and a great number of drawings that were recently given on loan to the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University Delft by his granddaughter, it is now possible to make a detailed reconstruction of the journeys that Slothouwer made to some of the farthest corners of the European continent and establish a relation between the journeys and the architectural school h [...]