David S. Traub

..a native of Louisville, Kentucky, studied architecture at the University of Illinois and the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Masters of Architecture degree. At Penn in 1964, he studied in the Master's Class of the famous architect, Louis I. Kahn, with students who had gathered from around the world.

During the Vietnam War, he served in the Corps of Engineers in Honolulu working as an architect on both military and civilian projects. A professional cellist, Traub was a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra for several years while in Hawai. 

From 1970-73, he worked in the office of Louis I. Kahn where he was assigned to two of the most important projects in the office at that time, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas and the Mellon Museum of British Art at Yale University in New Haven.

In 1974 he established his own office and has been in private practice ever since. His firm, David S. Traub Associates, Architects, Planners and Interior Designers, has performed a variety of projects in the residential, commercial, and institutional fields. Among his clients has been the City of Philadelphia, for which he designed projects for the Department of Recreation and the Fairmount Park Commission.

The firm's work also includes, historic restoration, town planning and interior design of offices, houses and condominiums.

In celebration in 1982 of the Tercentenary of the founding of the City of Philadelphia, David S. Traub produced an exhibit entitled, "Philadelphia, the ConcealedCity". The exhibit documented with photographs, Philadelphia's multitude of narrow streets, small public squares and hidden gardens - a "secret" city many residents and tourists never see. The exhibit was shown at the American Institute of Architects gallery, Girard Bank and at an architectural museum in Dayton, Ohio.

On numerous occasions over the years his work has been covered in the local press. Most recently there was an article in Philadelphia Style Magazine showing a striking new shore house he designed in Margate, New Jersey.

Mr. Traub for the last several years has been very active in historic preservation in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. He has written many articles concerning preservation issues that have arisen near the square, published in the Center City Weekly Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the co-founder of a new city wide preservation organization, SOS, Save Our Sites.

Photo by David Soffa