The article discusses examples of concrete houses made in Poland after 2000. The aim of the article is to present the thesis on the increasing importance of concrete for the creation of architecture of single-family houses. After decades of rejecting concrete as a material to live and live in, concrete has once again become an intermediary material in the search for new elementary residential structures in the Polish landscape. An important element in this mental transformation is the belief in the essence of the importance of forms and technologies of concrete architectural details. A detail is a tool that shows the originality of the idea and the meaning of concrete formations.

The research problem of the article refers to the question of the sense of using concrete prefabrication to create a new quality of architecture for single-family houses. Known and referenced projects from the past — from the period of early architectural Rationalism (Modernism and Functionalism) — seem appropriate to show, recall and update the idea of concrete prefabrication of single-family houses in the present day. This point of reference, having its source in the vision of the housing revolution from the beginning of the 20th century, can today be the subject of direct references and the search for further variants of rational patterns of modern prefabrication of single-family houses. The article is based on the most important items from the beginnings of concrete prefabrication technology, including Vers une architecture (1923) by Le Corbusier and articles and manuscripts by Walter Gropius following new concepts in German construction. Newer items include the Gilbert Herbert’s text that summarizes the heritage of Gropius’ prefabrication entitled The Dream of the Factory Made House by Walter Gropius and Konrad Wachsmann (1984).
The research method was the analysis of selected historical and contemporary houses built either in whole or in part in the precast concrete technology (a multiple-case study). The presentation of new examples shows the possibility of adapting the rational ideas and aesthetics of architecture from the early 20th century with the use of the latest concrete technologies. According to the author, the sense of concrete prefabrication in the construction of single-family houses is to return to the idea of ‘developed’ technology rationalization and Modernist architectural aesthetics. Although prefabrication is associated with the domain of economization, modularity, standardization and typification, thanks to advanced technologies, a prefabricated house in the 21st century can be a proof of the multitude of possible configurations.