Daniela Sandler is an associate professor of architectural and urban history at the University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning. She holds a PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester, and a professional degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of São Paulo.

Her work examines social inequalities in the built environment, spotlighting the ways in which groups and individuals fight for more inclusive cities through the intersection of bottom-up tactics and official policies.

Sandler's book, Counterpreservation: Architectural Decay in Berlin since 1989 (Cornell University Press, 2016), investigates how Berlin residents appropriated architectural decay to engage a difficult past, resist gentrification, and create alternative housing and cultural spaces. Her book won the 2019 Antoinette Forrester-Downing Award from the Society of Architectural Historians for excellence in a publication devoted to historic preservation. Her current project, a book in progress, is the first city-wide study of grassroots urbanism in São Paulo, Brazil. This project explores the ways in which communities work towards a more inclusive city, tackling challenges such as income inequality, gender discrimination, racism, and environmental problems.

Her peer-reviewed articles and book chapters have dealt with themes such as public space and social inclusion in São Paulo; the historiography of Brazilian modernism; war trauma, memory, and memorials in Germany; and alternative approaches to preservation. Her teaching focuses on these topics from a global perspective, also including topics such as colonialism, gender and race, health, preservation, and food.