While determining the formation of a traditional grid of streets and squares, a modern residential quarter development has become a substitute and also an equivalent of historically shaped urban quarter by adopting its city-forming significance in constructing the space of modern urban interiors. Restoration of diverse forms of a quarter development allows for the departure from the planning doctrines widespread in the twentieth century, derived from the Modernist trends which, aiming at deconcentration of urban structures, eventually led to a loss of the essence of understanding urban space. The article offers an insight into the issues related to the return to the idea of a residential quarter development owning to which the revival of traditionally regarded spaces of urban interiors becomes possible, i.e. a street, square, courtyard, urban backyard, square or a park.

Among the diversity of contemporary architectural motivations we discover these ideas of stylistic media that characterize a traditional way of defining architecture of houses and residential complexes – it concerns tries of monumentalisation of form and transmitting these characteristics of meaning that are considered rejected by the dogma of Modernity.

The statement is subjective and rough. Structure of objects, range of their scale in relation to man’s scale, shaping of solids as well as components were concerned as crucial to the housing form. Characteristics of the chosen attributes of the form were discussed. Some of their external conditions were indicated; also meaning of the attributes for the architecture perceiver.

Architecture of a contemporary single-family house fits in a pluralistic reality of the latest architecture. The main goal of contemporary architecture seems to be searching for originality and aiming for giving an individual character to buildings and places. An architectural form of a house, a choice of materials and a composition of elevations reflect architectural temperament of a creator and correspond with two dominating, contrary trends in contemporary architecture – minimalist and expressionist tendencies. The attempt to join a discussion about contemporary housing architecture has been made based on two examples: Bohermore House and Villa Panorama.

The text provides an overview of contemporary housing architecture, its aspirations towards abstraction and detachment from the canons of Modernists from the CIAM circle. The present slowly forgets about the primacy of function over form. Designers have finally a chance for unrestrained formation of the bodies of buildings regardless of their purpose. It seems that breakdown of form is becoming a leading method for creating the new architecture. It originated from the Expressionist architecture of the early twentieth century, and perpetuated during the Deconstructivism of the late twentieth century. Such “new” creation of architecture gives it the potential for joining the group of disinterested arts at last, and most importantly – a chance to become art anew.

The paper takes on the theme of idea of rationalism in architecture. The author is looking for its traces in contemporary examples of multi-residential architecture. The works of creators are the focus of attention, that by returning to “the architecture of reality”, to timeless forms, structures and types continue the search for universal values in architecture. Rationalist architecture today is a compromise between the past and the present, blending into the continuity of time and history.

Contemporary reality is diverse, as the recipient. The multiplicity of attitudes, needs, requirements and infinitude of ways in which we perceive the world around us are in contradiction with the necessity of unification, reproducibility, standardization. These opposing needs also apply to architecture. They refer to its creators, users and public audience. The superior role of the to these contradictions is the idea of a cohesive design a variety of needs, requirements and condition into one cohesive architectural space.

The article presents single-family houses of Steven Holl with musical, pictorial, and literary inspirations, transmitting “the content of” place – according to the manifesto of the architect (Anchoring).