Olsen, Clare  

I had Clare Olsen for my first studio class at Cal Poly. Overall she was a great professor and I would highly recommend taking her class if you get the chance. Clare is very knowledgable about architecture, and clearly has a passion for it. She also loves her students and cares about their success. The best way to succeed in her class, is to ask lots of questions and ask for feedback on your work. She may seem a bit confusing at first, but if you ask questions she is always willing to help. If you ask her for thoughts on your designs, she gives lots of constructive feedback that improve your work. I learned a lot in her class about architecture and design.

Clare was from the start difficult to please. The roasts given called critiques were sometimes brutal with words like fun and cute leaving you kind of wondering if youre still doing ok. However, thats the negative things. There's so much to be said about how incredible she is in terms of her style and how she pushes you to output great work. She truly understands the perfect balance between practicality and the fun impossible ideas you come up with. She knows Rhino and rendering softwares so well and is willing to help you if you're having issues with learning that especially as a first year instructor. She's willing to help you with your ideas and see what you're trying to do, but also she'll likely push you in a certain direction. This is not because she doesn't like your idea, but because she's trying to get you to think in a different way and see design from all angles and not just the one that you were thinking about. She has a specific style and balance to her work that certainly doesn't fit with everyone but that everyone can certainly learn from. Many of us in her studio did not enjoy it in the current moment, but later looking back we realized how lucky we were to have her and how much she did for us. Ok that's in terms of education. In terms of her as a person, she's one of the nicest people ever. She can be intimidating because she's so tall and kills it with the style choices but she's an incredible person. She brought us donuts one time after we all had a late night and then proceeded to bring us cold brew coffee a few weeks after that. She's super willing to listen to you about deliverables being too much or if you'd like to do different deliverables she's open to that as well, just ask. Alright that's all I got. Take her if you can

very enthusiastic about architecture. quirky, but extremely knowledgeable and passionate. very willing to help if you are struggling. fun and relevant projects. she will do mini workshops if the class requests them on a specific topic.

Her knowledge and understanding of architecture is unparalleled. She knows like every building in the world. She really cares about her students and tries to make studio a fun time. She is very quick and to the point. Her talks are usually very short--about 5-10 minutes. She is one of the more hands-off professors of 2nd year. If you want her opinion on something, you have to ask for it directly.

he sure does like his women, wet!!