Satler, Gail 1951-

(Gail R. Satler)

PERSONAL: Born August 19, 1951, in New York, NY; daughter of Ignatz and Helen Satler. Education: State University of New York at Stony Brook, B.A., 1972; Queens College of the City University of New York, M.A., 1976; City University of New York, Ph.D., 1985. Hobbies and other interests: Music (piano), running, photography.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Sociology, 202D Davison Hall, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549-1100. E-mail—gail.r.satler@hofstra.edu.

CAREER: Queens College of the City University of New York, Flushing, NY, adjunct instructor in sociology, 1978-85; Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, assistant professor of sociology, 1984-85; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, associate professor, beginning 1986, now professor of sociology. Architectural consultant, Chicago, IL, 1981-93. Columbia University, visiting scholar in architecture, urban planning, and preservation, 1994-95; also teaches at Cooper Union.

MEMBER: American Sociological Association, American Institute of Architecture Students, Chicago Loop Alliance, Friends of the Chicago River.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from Council of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, Graham Foundation, and Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, all 2000.

WRITINGS:

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Living Space: Architecture’s Fourth Dimension, Northern Illinois University Press (DeKalb, IL), 1999.

Two Tales of a City: Rebuilding Chicago’s Architectural and Social Landscape, 1986-2005, Northern Illinois University Press (DeKalb, IL), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Cities A-Z, edited by Steve Pile and Nigel Thrift, Routledge (London, England), 2000. Contributor of articles to professional journals, including Food and Society and Journal of Architectural Education.

SIDELIGHTS: Gail Satler wrote her doctoral dissertation on the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who is known for creating “organic architecture,” that is, buildings derived from the natural surroundings that employ naturalistic building materials. Satler continued to focus on Wright’s work in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Living Space: Architecture’s Fourth Dimension, a consideration of Wright’s lecture “The Destruction of the Box” and other prose works by the architect. In this study, which is the first book to treat the topic of Wright’s political and social intentions, Satler provides readers with a sociological analysis of Wright’s architecture and how people interact in the spaces Wright’s architecture creates. According to E. Weiss, writing for Choice, the work is an “accessibly written interpretation” that will likely appeal to beginners rather than scholars of architecture.

Another topic of interest to Satler is the role of restaurants in the larger society. Satler has been involved in a study of restaurants in New York City and their relationships—formal and informal—to the global economy.

Satler once told CA: “Make your own space and place, rather than trying to fit into an existing one. Then, whatever you write or explore will resonate, reflect life, and communicate to others what you want.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, December, 1999, E. Weiss, review of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Living Space: Architecture’s Fourth Dimension, p. 710.

Michigan Historical Review, fall, 2007, J. Phillip Gruen, review of Two Tales of a City: Rebuilding Chicago’s Architectural and Social Landscape, 1986-2005.

Times Literary Supplement, August 20, 1999, Alex Grant, review of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Living Space, p. 28.