The author conducted a comparison of creative research in the field of mass housing construction of the first and the third five-year plan periods. The changing nature of housing architecture is considered a result of the change of the social problems faced by the professional community. The author puts forward the suggestion that the similarity of the purposes of late 1920s early 1930s and the second half of 1930s early 1940s prompted the architects to return to some of the ideas rejected at previous stages. The analysis of the design proposals from leading architects showed that the idea of the optimal type of mass housing absorbed the ideas of the 1920s and the understanding of the consumer culture of the mid 1930s. But the socio-economic situation in the country and especially the housing policy did not allow full implementation of these proposals in the mass segment of construction.