The course pursues two main objectives. The first one consists in introducing the students to the Conceptual Structural Design: this design philosophy is based on the assumption that the rational methods of structural engineering shall not be applied at the end of the architectural/functional design process - in order to simply check the feasibility and the static safety of executed assumptions - but, on the contrary, at the beginning of the design process, using the basic principles of Static at a conceptual – not yet analytical - level. The second objective aims at providing the students with the basic knowledge for the structural design of constructions adopting non-conventional materials, techniques and architectural shapes, among whom, for instance, Grid Shell roofing systems, glass structures and so on.