Books

His most recent book presents the full scope of forty-five years of practice, built and unbuilt, in photographs, plans, elevations, details and renderings. An introduction tells the story of his career, from building imaginary cities with wooden blocks as a boy in Louisville to Kahn’s Master Class and his own office in Philadelphia. The projects are arranged by type rather than date, and show both faces of his work, the traditional and the modern.

Philadelphia: City of Homes is an affectionate survey of the city’s houses, from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first, in full-color photographs with descriptions. It ranges from modest rowhouses to grand mansions, across neighborhoods of every kind and income.

Discovering Philadelphia carries on the mission launched by David Traub with his first book of photographs, Searching for Philadelphia. Once again, he introduces his readers to buildings, streets and places in the city that many of them are unlikely to know. This time, however, Traub takes a geographic approach to Philadelphia's unusual sites. He divides the book into seven broad sections, each a web of neighborhoods with a distinct look and character, separated from one another by more than just miles.

Searching for Philadelphia: The Concealed City utilizes photographs to bring awareness of the many largely hidden and unexpected architectural treasures the city has to offer. Most of these would likely be missed except by the curious and alert pedestrian. The book is made up of seven distinct sections.

A photographic collection to be enjoyed for many years to come, Searching for Philadelphia gives recognition to the overlooked views that lend exceptional character and a human dimension to a great American city.