Α. The course deals with the impact of natural disasters – earthquakes – on architectural design, from historical building systems to modern architecture. It is organised in 2 sections. Α). The necessity to include from the beginning of architectural design the issue of the behaviour of buildings in seismic loads is analysed. The phenomenon of earthquake, the behaviour and pathology of structures is presented. The subject of “architectural seismic design” is described and analysed as a synthetic process that, apart from the load-bearing structure, also concerns the non load-bearing elements, the movable parts and the furnishings. Through examples of traditional seismic systems and modern architecture, construction methods for dealing with seismic risk are analysed. Reference is made to regulations concerning the seismic design of different structural systems. It examines the impact of other types of catastrophic events on the sustainability and resilience of structures and how provisions and building codes for such events influence and guide key architectural design choices. Β). Presentation of experiments on a physical scale in collaboration with the Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering, NTUA (experiment on a seismic bank), the School of Mechanical Engineering. NTUA and the Fire Academy, (construction exposure to fire).