The course aims at providing the student of architecture with theoretical elements and methods necessary to recognize and understand structures in architecture and to their conceptual design since the first year of the bachelor course.

The general objectives of the course are:
- the knowledge of most frequent structural forms and construction techniques in historical and contemporary architecture;
- the knowledge of the fundamentals in Statics of Structures;
- the knowledge of the methods for conception of the structural organism of a building, of its representation and of its quantitative control during the conceptual phase of the architectural design;

- the ability to include the building structure in the general framework of the architectural design;
- the ability to define, for some simple structural typologies, a mechanical model of the structure and its possible static diagrams;
- the ability to apply to them the laws of equilibrium.

Elements of Physics and Mathematics currently taught in high school

1. Morphology of steel, reinforced concrete, masonry and timber buildings (5 hrs)
2. Elements of Statics of Structures: forces and moments; equilibrium assessment in plane and space; constraints and reactions; concept of the beam; internal forces, truss girders and systems of beams (22 hrs)
3. Long span structures: arches, cable stayed structures, suspended structures, spatial trusses (18 hrs)
4. Actions on buildings (5 hrs)
5. Concept design of bracing systems and floor structures (9 hrs)
6. Preliminary sizing for beam systems made in steel, reinforced concrete and timber (3 hrs)
7. Conceptual design of the building overall structure and preliminary sizing of the structural elements with reference to the architectural design developed at the same time by the students along the 1st year design unit (18 hrs)

The Course is organised in ex cathedra lessons (77%) and exercises (23%). The exercises will take place during the second half of the Course and they will focus on the contents described in item 7 above. The exercises will be developed by teams composed by 3-4 students each.

Handouts of the course, produced by teachers and made available for downloads from Teaching Portal during the delivery of the Course. Further textbooks suggested for insights:

[1] Aurelio Muttoni, L’arte delle Strutture – Introduzione al funzionamento delle strutture in Architettura, Editore: Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Collana: i Documenti Accademia Architettura Mendrisio, 2006.
[2] Erasmo Viola, Esercitazioni di Scienza delle Costruzioni 1- Strutture isostatiche e geometria delle masse, Pitagora Editrice Bologna, Collana: LPDI Lineamenti Propedeutici di Ingegneria, 1993.
[3] Schulitz Helmut C., Sobek Werner, Habermann Karl J., Atlante dell’acciaio, UTET, Collana: Grande atlante di architettura, 1999.
[4] Natterer Julius, Herzog Thomas, Volz Michael, Atlante del Legno, UTET, Collana: Grande atlante di architettura, 2000.

2-hour long written test with exercises concerning the contents of the Course described at item 2 above. 30-minute long oral exam with questions concerning the design activity developed by student and/or the contents of the Course not evaluated during the written test. The final assessment will result from the weighted grades obtained by the student during the written test and oral exam, being the weights equal to 2/3 and 1/3 respectively.