ITB traces its origin to de Technische Hoogeschool te Bandoeng (THB) which was founded by the patronage of Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha, a Bandung plantation owner, industrialist and philanthropist, and the support from the Dutch colonial administration, to meet the needs of technical resources in Dutch East Indies. The school building was designed in 1918 by a Dutch architect named Henri Maclaine Pont, who was inspired by Indonesian vernacular architecture and blending it with modern elements.[9] When the school opened its door for the first time on 3 July 1920, it only had one department namely 'de Faculteit van Technische Wetenschap' (Faculty of Technical Science) and one academic major of 'de afdeeling der Weg en Waterbouw' (the department of Road and Water resources engineering).