The establishment of ITB campus was initiated by a European/Dutch philanthropic group. The General Governor of the Dutch East Indies, Mr. J.P. Graaf van Limburg Stirum, officially opened its campus on July 3, 1920. ITB campus was originally adjacent to Jalan Ganesha on the south side and Jalan Tamansari on the west and north side; and now it has been expanded to Lebak Siliwangi along Jalan Tamansari. In its early years, ITB was operating with a curricula that was equivalent to one used at the University of Delft.
ITB complex was originally comprised of only three units of the main building and several units of the supporting building. These building units spread out from the southern main entrance, and were connected to each other by a hall that has several columns of river stone. The stones and other items, such as, wood, stone walls, exposed paths, and shingled roofs were created in order to give a natural touch while adapting to the tropical climate.
Ir. Henri Maclaine Pont designed the main campus buildings, namely the West Hall and East Hall. His works experimentally represent the combination of traditional architecture of the archipelago and modern construction techniques. This style is known as Indisch Architecture. Struck by its shingled roofs, Bandung residents used to call the compound Gedong Sirap (Shingle Building).
When the campus master plan was prepared, on the southern side of Jalan Ganesha a park was built as a tribute to Dr. Ir. J.W. Ijzerman, Chairman of Raad van Beheer, Klopper left of Holland, and it was named Ijzerman Park. This park was designed in the form and with the style of Indische Tropische Park; a kind of Priangan tropical landscape promoted by Bandoeng Vooruit group. It was also influenced, however, by French and Italian architectural style of late Middle Ages that preceded the renaissance.
The present day Ganesha Park was part of TH campus. This oval-shaped and symmetrical garden was equipped with a fountain and a sort of terrace on its higher part. Around its patio stood stone pillars with typical vines of ITB, pyrostegia, which also decorated the park. According to botanist Dr. L. Van der Pijl (1950), this particular vine vegetation was imported from South America through Australia to decorate the ITB campus (H. Kunto, 1984).
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