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Regulated by economic and political ambitions, the pursuit of authenticity has evolved into a practice, which is oriented towards formal novelty. This practice is cultivated by the visual culture, emerged in consequence of the developments in information and communication technologies and the capitalist system of operations. Especially in popular and professional culture, the formal characteristics of the architectural work has become the most effective determinant of its authenticity claim, rather than the essential ideas that constitute the design. In this study, the intellectual framework or the conceptual background of any architectural product is considered as one of the most prominent and comprehensive sources of its authentic nature. Within academic culture, up until postmodern artistic production, the search for an absolute origin, a beginning from ground zero is considered to be essential for producing original artworks. The repercussions of consumer society and reproduction techniques has defined new ways of producing and evaluating art, hence provoking an intellectual inquiry on the concepts of copy, imitation and reproduction. The association of originality with the "origin" has started to diminish since the beginning of 20th century, bringing it closer to the concept of authenticity, boundaries of which are discussed throughout this study. Any architectural design element (idea, form, technique) can be associated with antecedents and subsequences to a certain extent. However, authenticity has often been discussed and evaluated solely by means of retrospective analyses, while the significance of the future and potentialities are often neglected. In a world that everything is a copy of another, this study concentrates upon the difference between direct copying and critical referencing, regarding the relationships established with the past. In future oriented discussions, the emphasis is put on the effects of the building after its realization upon the surrounding social/built environment, on architectural field and its potentiality to become a reference point for future works. In this thesis, the structure of architectural authenticity is studied through a complex network defined as "system of references". This complex network is formed with multitude of relationships defined between various domains, events, forms, techniques and methods that are directly or indirectly relevant to architectural design. In order to enframe this extensive scope, the sources and limits of architectural authenticity is studied through prominent domains that have a significant influence on the discipline. Design considerations and priorities within these prominent domains can act as the prominent constituent of the building's authenticity, or may become a part of a non-hierarchical structure. It is both controversial and difficult to label an architectural product as original or authentic in its entirety, hence this study promotes fractional assessments on its specific architectural qualities. As a result, authenticity is not conceived as a label to define or classify an architectural work, but rather portrayed as a tool of comprehending and criticizing its architectural characteristics.