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Arens, Robert

Cumulative GPA: 3.60/4.00 with 15 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.60
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.73

Architecture Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:34 pm, Mar 23, 2010		In my opinion, Robert is the best second year studio teacher by far. He is very knowledgeable and very insightful. He spends a lot of one-on-one time with his students and coaxes them along their projects. He gives you a lot of work and his studio is intense but it is all well worth it. If you\'re not afraid of hard work that pays off, I definitely recommend taking him.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:42 pm, Jan 29, 2010		Robert is a fantastic professor, not to mention an experienced one. He came to Poly after working for Daniel Libeskind and teaching at a couple different universities, so he has a lot of practical AND theoretical experience under his belt. This becomes more than apparent as soon as one takes his studio courses. While he\'s brisk in the 242 lecture class, his studio course is much more intimate and he makes a point to direct you personally, both in your immediate project and as a prospective architect in general. Be prepared to put in the time, though. I spent almost the entirety of Halloween weekend in the studio (noon to seven in the morning both Friday and Saturday, plus some some on Sunday), but it was well worth it. Robert makes you want to work hard and produce your best work, plus his chill personality fosters a great atmosphere for the studio in general. I felt his grading was more than fair, because he wasn\'t afraid to give a majority of As to those of us who put in the time, but neither did he hesitate from cracking down on the slackers.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 10:02 am, Apr 23, 2009		robert was an amazing professor. because of how much i learned and grew in his class, i finally felt like architecture was something i could be good at. he pushed me like no other teacher has before and i will take away so much from his class. he truly cares about his students and would make a point of personally making sure you were okay. i would highly recommend him if you would like to take on a challenge and learn a lot about yourself as an architect.

ARCH 241 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 4:10 pm, Feb 4, 2009		Robert Arens' class was the most difficult thing I have ever experienced in my entire life, and I'm glad for every minute of it. The stereotype of architecture students pulling frequent all-nighters to work on odd abstract somethings is no longer a stereotype when it comes to Robert's students. He expects a lot of work, and he expects high-quality work. Robert is one of those teachers you hate to disappoint because he's that good and cares that much. I had Robert for the Fall, and the work had a highly abstract element to it, which did not come naturally to me, so I learned a LOT.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 9:48 pm, Dec 14, 2008		Robert connects with the students like no other 2nd year studio teacher. He is, and always will be, a mentor and a friend. Materiality.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 10:51 pm, Dec 10, 2008		I'm honestly so sad that I could only get Robert for one quarter. He really knows what he's talking about and really listens to you. He gives constructive criticism and is really articulate when telling you what he thinks. He's a cool teacher that is both laid back and strict. He will talk to you like a friend, but for sure let you know that he is your professor because the work load is a lot more than other studios. I didn't find the work too straining because i loved being in that studio so much. Take him if you are lucky enough to beat everyone else for a spot. You'll have to use a priority.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 10:27 pm, Mar 24, 2008		Robert's a great guy. He is committed to his students and he is committed to making his studio and other classes a learning experience intune with the current demands of the profession. It is certainly hard but you will leave it with an excellent and well developed project as well as new and unique skills. His practice course does a good job of making the material presented engaging. He has lot of experience that he tries to pass on to his students and he understands when students have difficulty and tries to help.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:52 pm, Mar 20, 2008		as a side note I find it funny that out of seven previous ratings there is one totally random which contradicts all the other comments. clearly this student is either making a joke or felt they deserved a better grade. only two words are necessary to sum up robert's class: REAL DEAL. there's no holding hands or cutting corners in his course. he will show you exactly what is expected of you in the professional world and he expects the same effort in each of his student's work. awesome experience!

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:48 pm, Mar 20, 2008		Robert was a very knowlegable and helpful professor. he had great experience in the field and encouraged all the students to not only design but consider the contruction methods as well. his 241 lectures are interesting and well organized, but require a lot of work to get an A in the coursed. overall he cares about his students and pushes them to work hard and go beyond what all the other second year studios are doing. he is one of the best second year instructors and i would highly recommend him!!!

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:37 pm, Mar 20, 2008		Robert is a great professor. He knows what he is doing and is easy to talk to, whether it be about studio or practice. His studio is awesome, he usually works on one project the entire quarter starting abstract and developing it in stages. Regarding 241, for anyone who actually wants to be an architect the class (an overview of materials) will be interesting. The earlier comment is rude and incorrect in that even if you work construction you will still need to study and understand the material to get an A in the class.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:55 pm, Mar 20, 2008		Professor Arens is a great instructor, don't listen to the rating below. He does know a lot about construction, but he explains and simplfies it so second year students can understand (obviously the majority of second year students have never worked on construction) so he explains the concepts in understandable terms. His lectures are mainly to explain the assigned readings which are much more technical than his lectures. His studio is also good, you learn a lot and is very well-organized, he also makes you push yourself and meet more than the minimum requirements. He knows a broad variety of architecture since he has worked all over the world. Overall.. good experience

ARCH 241 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:57 pm, Mar 5, 2008		His practice lectures are boring.If you have worked construction you know how little he knows and tries to cover up by talk like an arrogant snob. He is boring and never finishes on time because he repeates everything five times to fill up for his lack of knowledge.

ARCH 241 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 6:40 pm, Jan 13, 2008		Professor Arens is a great instructor. He knows his stuff. There's a lot of reading in his course and there's a lot to know. If you keep your mind in the game and study and read the books and lecture notes, you'll be fine. Course is graded on a curve. You'll go far in his class in terms of knowing what is out there in the real world of architecture.

ARCH 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 1:20 am, Dec 28, 2006		Robert is always well-prepared for class and very knowledgeable in materials and methods of constructions. His approach of treating arch 251 as a constinuation of 241 helps you synthesize the two together since you don't have to "switch gears" from 251 to 241. He knows how to communicate the intents of a project and is great at recognizing student difficulties (he took the time to give us tips on how to work efficiently). He seems to emphasize drawing and hand-drafting, which is a nice break from Form-Z. He is one of the more practical professors. There are a lot of professors out there who emphasize the creation of space without considering how one would actually construct it in real life. I had a positive experience in the class, though I wish our last project's requirements were not so limiting.

ARCH 253 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 8:18 am, Aug 22, 2006		First of all I chose to take Arens because it seemed like he knew his stuff and he loved architecture. And I was right. He is caring, organized and pushes you to think and rethink all of your designs. He gives you alot of personal attention but will rarely pet you on the head and say how great you are. But he will only give constructive criticism. He is a tough grader as he expects excellence. Beyond that, we were exposed to several readings, discussions and even a fun design built project... Anyway, some cons are he has his favorite students and is pretty harsh in his crits...but if you can handle that, you are in for a great design learning process.

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