Life before the cubicle

I have talked before about the cubicle’s history and the inventor, Robert Propst, who despised the way the cubicle was developed. Then I started looking into his thinking behind the idea in the first place, and discovered what he was trying to do.

He was trying to make a better workplace than the norm that existed in the pre-cubicle days, the Bullpen. This is a movie still taken from the film, “The Apartment.”

Hundreds upon hundreds of desks, with only inches between your desk and the ones in front, behind and to the sides.

Propst was attempting to provide workers with a little privacy and personal space, whilst keeping cost to a minimum and maximizing efficiency.

It almost sounds like a good idea when compared to the bullpen design. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the cost-cutting has overridden all other considerations.