D.F. Slothouwer (1884-1946) Education Dirk Frederik Slothouwer was born at Manjong in the Japara residence on Java on November 5, 1884. He studied at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft from 1900 to 1905, graduating as a structural engineer in 1905. Slothouwer then worked successively at the offices of the architects J. Springer and J.W. Hanrath and from 1907 with J.A.G. van der Steur, at the construction office of the Peace Palace. There he participated in the elaboration of the plans of the French architect Louis Cordonnier. In 1906 and 1909 he participated in the competition for the Prix de Rome, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal in 1909. His design for an Academy of Fine Arts was published in the Bouwkundig Weekblad. Slothouwer, who had a keen interest in Greek culture and architecture, then traveled for three years through Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Greece and Egype. His visit to Greece and Egypt went against the program set by the Prix de Rome jury and was made possible by a patron who admired classical art. Slothouwer made many travel sketches and surveying drawings, including of churches and castles in Denmark and of Italian palazzi. Slothouwer was deeply impressed by the late medieval and early Renaissance buildings in Italy and wrote in 1912: "Of all the periods of Italian art, that which preceded the Renaissance is one of the most powerful. A very strong race, which had not yet come so far as to search consciously for the laws of beauty, created structures which in their arbitrariness seem to have grown more by a superhuman will than by human hands.' D.F. Slothouwer, architect and professor In 1912, Slothouwer established himself as an architect in Amsterdam. One of his first works in that city was the building of De Groote Club, for which he drew the facades. He also designed several country houses, including Hattem and Maartensdijk, and housing complexes in Amsterdam. During his study tours, Slothouwer had found a new source of inspiration, which became increasingly important in the 1920s: Scandinavian architecture. Furthermore, he had meanwhile been impressed by Karl Scheffler's book Der Geist der Gotik, which he read around 1920. To J.P. Mieras he declared, "I dream of a synthesis of Hellenism with Gothic."(1) Slothouwer received his doctorate in 1924 in Delft for his dissertation, "Architecture of the Dutch Renaissance in Denmark. This made him the first architectural engineer to receive a doctorate in Delft. Slothouwer's view of architecture was conservative, although in his articles he sometimes criticized architects who, in his opinion, were too stuck in the past. Later he himself was often accused of this. As a professor, he taught formal theory and architectural history. In his theory of form, he worked mainly with historical examples, as his successor J.F. Berghoef later wrote: "My predecessor, Prof. Dr. Ir. D.F. Slothouwer, sought these examples mainly from the Italian Renaissance and the French and Dutch baroque and classicism, as is still the case today at the Ecole des beaux arts. In his lectures he gave a detailed description of the Greek and Roman forms and developed very clever hypotheses about their origin. It is remarkable that of the Greek and Roman temples the parts were drawn, but rarely the whole. Thereby Berghoef stated that for contemporary architecture the overall composition of these historical buildings is more important than examples of historical details.(2) From 1919 to 1939 Slothouwer was restoration architect of the Dom in Utrecht. On September 2, 1926, he was appointed professor of architecture at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft, from which position he was honorably discharged at his own request on May 1, 1946. Slothouwer was a board member and secretary of the NBvA, later BNA, from 1915 to 1920 and in the years 1922-1923. His last work was the Dutch Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair in New York (New York World's Fair), which Slothouwer considered "a not unamusing apotheosis to his life's work."(3) The classist-inspired design was too traditionalist, according to some critics, and others thought it suited the American preference for historicizing architecture. Architect Hans Elte criticized the design in The 8 and Opbouw as a "classical fanfare" to which his eyes were not set. Publications Since his doctorate in 1924, Slothouwer has written widely on monuments, historicism and Scandinavian architecture. Some titles include "What Can We Learn from Ancient Monuments" (1926), "Amsterdam's Houses 1600-1800" (1928), and "The Palaces of Frederick Henry" (1946). He also wrote articles in the Bouwkundig Weekblad, including on castles in Sweden, was the author of the introductions to the issues of Wendingen on Scandinavian art. It was mainly these publications that earned Slothouwer appreciation. The editors of the Katholiek Bouwblad called Slothouwer a "culture bearer" because of his efforts and publications in the field of historic preservation: "Culture bearers are not only the people who are innovators, this is so often unjustly stated in our time. Rather, they are those who know how to transmit to us the great treasures that make up our cultural heritage.'(4) Notes 1. J.P. Mieras, 'Prof. Dr. Ir. D.F. Slothouwer. 5 November 1884 - 3 December 1946', Bouwkundig Weekblad, jg. 64, 1946, no. 32, p. 289-291. 2. J.F. Berghoef, 'The classics in architectural education', Forum, jg. 5, no. 4, 1950, p. 118-126. 3. J.P. Mieras, 'Prof. Dr. Ir. D.F. Slothouwer. 5 November 1884 - 3 December 1946', Bouwkundig Weekblad, jg. 64, 1946, no. 32, p. 289-291. 4. Editor, 'Prof. Dr. D.F. Slothouwer +', Catholic Building Journal, jg. 14, no. 5, 1946-1947, p. 57-58. Secondary activities: Technische Hogeschool Delft/ professor of architecture/1926.09.02-1946.05.01;Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst (MBVA)/board member/1915.07.26-1919.01.11;BNA/board member and secretary/1919.01.11-1920;BNA/board member and secretary/1922-1923;Bouwkundig Weekblad/chairman of the editorial board/1917-1926;XIth International Architects Congress/chairman/1927;XIVth International Architects Congress/Dutch delegate/1937;XVth International Architects Congress/Dutch delegate/1939;Dagelijks bestuur Bond Heemschut/member/1931 (resigned);Schoonheidscommissie Amsterdam/member/1924 (from);Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst, Commissie tot het verzamelen van stukken geschikt ter opname in de uitgaven der Maatschappij/1907 (from);Competition for a residential building for old men and women in Alkmaar (Karenhuizen) organized by the Vereeniging Volkshuisvesting Alkmaar/ jury member/1917;Competition for a temporary restaurant, organized by the MBVA/ jury member/1918;Commission for informing the government whether the establishment of a State Architecture Museum is desirable/member/1918;Commission for the Library of the MBVA/member/1917.05.23-1921;Commission on private commissions to civil servants-architects (BNA)/member/1921;Competition for a church building of the Reformed Church in Amsterdam/jury secretary/1924;Royal British Institute of Architects (RIBA)/Honorary Corresponding Member/1924 (from);Honorary Committee for the Exhibition of Architecture in the States Hall of the Prinsenhof in Haarlem/member/1927;Competition for book binding for History of Amsterdam (Publisher 'Joost van den Vondel')/jury member/ 1930;Commission for Intellectual Cooperation (League of Nations)/member/1931 (as of);Commission for the Urban Planning Course of the Delft Technical College and the Institute for Public Housing and Urban Development/member/1937-1938;Advisory Committee of the Gysberti Hodenspijl Fund/member/1933 Honors: Prix de Rome, Gold Medal/1909;Commander in the Order of Danebrog/;Order of the White Lion of Czechoslovakia