When Work Was Groovy #4: Dawn of the Cube

What you see above is the genesis of that dreadful and omnipresent piece of office furniture - the cubicle. 

They came on the scene with such promise. Read old issues of Architectural Digest, and you'd think they were describing the dawn of a New Age.  An age without cloistered offices. An age of open communication.  The cubicle was the answer to the stuffiness and chaos of the "old" office.  Now the office is a place where dreams are made.

Once businesses saw how much they could save in both furniture costs and square footage, it wasn't long before this experiment became the standard. It took a couple decades before these cubes stopped being the hallowed symbol of industrial modernity, and became the butt of jokes and the symbol of all that is petty, uninspiring and dehumanizing in corporate life. [source]

In 2006, Fortune ran an article titled "Cubicles: The Great Mistake", and pop culture hasn't been any less critical with Dilbert and Office Space being prime examples. 

What's so bad about them? Personally, I think it derives from their cheapness - they weren't designed to last... thus, the employee who is stationed in one of these things also feels cheap and temporary.  

   

I can speak from personal experience. A few years ago, I was given an office, graduating from the cubicle farm, and my work environment improved exponentially.  My fellow employees still residing in the cubicle wasteland aren't exactly pleased with their surroundings.   They don't really provide much privacy and even the best ones aren't very soundproof. Worst of all is the overriding sensation that you are as disposable as your office furniture.

On top of all this negativity is the overwhelming impression of "sameness"; a complete lack of individuality.  Every cubicle is the same bland square.  Some may try to make their cubicle their own, but it's generally an exercise in futility.

Am I glamorizing the pre-cube office?  Could pre-cube offices also look uninviting and drab? Yes and yes.  But there's no denying the cube has earned this bad reputation honestly. I'm not claiming smoke filled shag carpeted 70s offices are the pinnacle in industrial design.  What I am saying is that the global shift to cube farms was not an improvement. I am in agreement with Fortune. They were a big mistake.