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Enter the Cubicle

The office cubicle provides a compromise between the open plan and the private room. It is not a perfect solution, as it fails to some extent on acoustic dampening and security, but it does offer visual privacy and delineates personal space.

The cubicle has probably been made most famous by the Dilbert cartoon series, created by Scott Adams, which all cubicle or “pod” dwellers can relate to. Speaking his mind through his character Dilbert, Adams offered not only sarcastic criticisms of the cubicle, but new insights and ideas as well. In 2001 he teamed up with IDEO, a San Francisco design company, to create the perfect cubicle. The resulting cubicle featured comical aspects, to be sure, but also some sound ideas. A couple of examples include an original modular arrangement and attention to details before overlooked, such as the change in the angle of lighting as the day advances.

Writer Douglas Coupland coined the phrase "veal-fattening pen" in reference to the cubicle in his novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.

Between 2000 and 2002, IBM and Steelcase®, the office furniture manufacturer, partnered to conduct thorough research on the software, hardware, and ergonomics of the cubicle of the future under the name "BlueSpace." They created several prototypes of their hi-tech, multi-screened work space which contained movable, multiple screens inside and outside, a projection system, and individual lighting, heating, and ventilation controls, along with software applications to orchestrate everything. One of these was exhibited at Walt Disney World.

In 1994, designer Douglas Ball designed and built several "Clipper" or "CS-1" capsule-shaped desks that looked like the front fuselage of a fighter plane. This streamlined computer workstation had louvers, an integrated ventilation system, and advanced ergonomic features. An office space filled with these capsules would look like a hangar of small flight simulators. The Design Museum in the United Kingdom now houses these workstations among its permanent collections.