Editing Cubicle (section)

==History==
[[File:Photograph of the Division of Classification and Cataloging, 1937.tif|thumb|right|Before cubicles: open office with desks arranged in rows, 1937]]Prior to the widespread adoption of cubicles beginning in the 1960s, office workers often worked at desks arranged in rows in an open room, where they were exposed to the sounds and activity of those working around them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Musser |first=George |title=The Origin of Cubicles and the Open-Plan Office |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origin-of-cubicles-an/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref>

=== Action Office I ===
{{main|Action Office}}
In 1960, [[Herman Miller (manufacturer)|Herman Miller]] founded the Herman Miller Research Corporation.<ref name="autogenerated2005">{{cite book |last=Habegger |first=Jerryll |title=Sourcebook of Modern Furniture |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2005 |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-393-73170-5|edition=Third }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1998">{{cite book |last=Pina |first=Leslie |title=Classic Herman Miller |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |year=1998 |location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-7643-0471-2}}</ref>  The corporation's first major project was an evaluation of the "office" as it had evolved during the 20th Century, and in particular, how it functioned in the 1960s.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> 

Propst concluded from his studies that during the 20th century the office environment had changed substantially, particularly in relation to the amount of information being processed.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> The amount of information an employee had to analyze, organize, and maintain had increased dramatically. Despite this, the basic layout of the corporate office had remained largely unchanged. Propst's studies suggested that an open environment actually reduced communication between employees, and impeded personal initiative.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> On this, Propst commented "One of the regrettable conditions of present day offices is the tendency to provide a formula kind of sameness for everyone."<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> In addition, the employees were suffering from long hours of sitting in one position.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/>

In 1964, they created the [[Action Office]] I (AO-1) and introduced it in the Herman Miller lineup.<ref name="autogenerated2005" /><ref name="autogenerated1998" /> AO-1 was a failure.<ref name="autogenerated2005" /><ref name="autogenerated1998" /> Despite its shortcomings, Nelson won the [[Alcoa Award]] for the design without crediting Propst.<ref name="autogenerated2005" /><ref name="autogenerated1998" />

=== First appearances ===
One of the first offices to incorporate the ''"Action Office"'' design was in the [[Federal Reserve Bank of New York]].<ref name="autogenerated1995">{{cite book |last=Abercrombie |first=Stanley |title=George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design |publisher=The MIT Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-262-01142-6 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>

===Action Office II===
Following the poor sales of Action Office 1, Propst and Nelson decided that Action Office I had failed.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> The AO-2 lineup met with unprecedented success.<ref name="autogenerated2005"/><ref name="autogenerated1998"/> In 1978, ''"Action Office II"'' was renamed simply ''"Action Office"'', and by 2005 had attained sales totaling $5 billion.<ref name="autogenerated1998"/><ref name="autogenerated1995" />

Despite the success and his contributing ideas, Nelson criticized the ''"Action Office II"'' line. In 1970, he sent a letter to Robert Blaich, Herman Miller's Vice-President for Corporate Design and Communication, in which he described the system's "dehumanizing effect as a working environment.".<ref name="autogenerated1995" /><!-- page 219 -->

=== Internet era ===
[[File:Capgemini employee cubicle São Paulo.jpg|thumb|A cubicle in IT company [[Capgemini]]'s [[São Paulo]] office]]In 1994 designer Douglas Ball planned and built several iterations of the [[Clipper CS-1|Clipper]] or [[Clipper CS-1|CS-1]], a "capsule" desk that resembled the streamlined front fuselage of a fighter plane. Meant as a computer workstation, it had louvers and an integrated ventilation system, as well as a host of built-in features typical of the [[ergonomic desk]]. An office space filled with these instead of traditional squarish cubicles would look like a hangar filled with small flight simulators. It was selected for the permanent design collection of the Design Museum in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Douglas Ball |url=https://www.hermanmiller.com/designers/ball/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=www.hermanmiller.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Many{{How many|date=April 2022}} cube farms were built during the [[Dot-com bubble|dotcom boom]] of 1997-2003.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Between 2000 and 2002, [[IBM]] partnered with the office furniture manufacturer [[Steelcase]], and researched the software, hardware, and ergonomic aspects of the cubicle of the future (or the [[office of the future]]) under the name "Bluespace". They produced several prototypes of this hi-tech multi screened work space and even exhibited one at [[Walt Disney World]]. Bluespace offered movable multiple screens inside and outside, a projection system, advanced individual lighting, heating and ventilation controls, and guest-detecting privacy systems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=StackPath |url=https://www.buildings.com/industry-news/article/10195546/ibm-steelcase-form-office-alliance-unveils-bluespace-tech-office-of-the-future |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=www.buildings.com|date=21 January 2002 }}</ref>

=== Open-plan offices ===
{{Main|Open plan#office spaces}}
During the 2000s and 2010s, open plan offices arose again as a modern response to cubicles, inspired by [[:Category:Companies based in Silicon Valley|tech companies]] in [[Silicon Valley#Rise of computer culture|Silicon Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=This Is Why Open Offices Replaced Cubicles |url=https://www.themuse.com/advice/history-of-the-open-offices-exist-cubicles |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=The Muse |date=30 May 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Though they predate cubicles and were re-popularized by architects including [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] in 1939,<ref>{{Cite web |title=This Is Why Open Offices Replaced Cubicles |url=https://www.themuse.com/advice/history-of-the-open-offices-exist-cubicles |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=The Muse |date=30 May 2018 |language=en}}</ref> 21st-century open plans are sometimes described as a "[[fad]]." Open plans have negative consequences on employees' [[Productivity-improving technologies|productivity]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bernstein |first1=Ethan S. |last2=Turban |first2=Stephen |date=2018-08-19 |title=The impact of the 'open' workspace on human collaboration |journal=Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B |language=en |volume=373 |issue=1753 |pages=20170239 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2017.0239 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=6030579 |pmid=29967303}}</ref> [[mental health]], and [[Contagious disease|health]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=Geoffrey |date=2018-10-10 |title=How Open-Plan Offices Kill Diversity and Equality |url=https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-open-plan-offices-kill-diversity-equality.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Inc.com |language=en}}</ref> 

In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, open-plan offices such as those in True Manufacturing Co. began to put up [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|plexiglass]] [[Sneeze guard|partitions]]. Demand was so high and materials scarce the use of glass partitions as a protective screen was also widely used - essentially, once again [[Room divider|dividing]] open plans into cubicles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mull |first=Amanda |date=2020-07-27 |title=The End of Open-Plan Everything |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/07/walls-pandemic-open-plan/614590/ |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>