In With Reference, Soo Chan of SCDA explores the fundamentals of architecture — going back to inspirations and precedents, examining basic building blocks and core values — in search of a universal spatial vocabulary for contemporary practice.

As practice becomes increasingly globalized and fragmented, the applied design language has to absorb nuances of climate, craft, culture, and place. Through a rich diagrammatic analysis of seminal projects by SCDA as well as masters of architecture around the world, With Reference argues for the revival of a rule-based design language.