When people look at or work in a sea of cubicles they may be reminded of the phrase that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It was certainly the case that the inventor of cubicles, Robert (Bob) Propst, was hoping through the design to personalize the office environment.

In the early 1960s, Propst looked at the array of desks in orderly rows that did little to express the individuality of the worker, and had to be kept in pristine order. He felt they had a clinical and demoralizing feel, and believed that partitions would offer workers privacy, a little less noise and a chance to express themselves in their own partitioned office space.

Propst has invented a number of things, including pilot seats for supersonic aircrafts. In fact, through his work with the Herman Miller Company that asked for a newer seat design, the company founder, D. J. DuPree asked Propst to redesign the Herman Miller office and furniture. The end result was the partitioned cubicles, called the Action Office, with which so many office workers are now familiar.

Propst’s intent in designing cubicles was to provide an unfashionable blank slate, which could be customized for each office worker. Pictures could decorate the walls, and cubicles could be in a constant flux of mess. Initial cubicles had completely enclosed spaces to offer total privacy, but soon Propst also came up with the idea of semi-enclosed spaces. Propst suggested communal spaces for workers, though these did not materialize in all companies that adopted cubicles.

In the late 60s, moveable cubicles were born. Cubicles and workers could come and go, and more cubicles could be installed as needed. While Propst had good intentions, cubicles were frequently criticized for being just as austere or clinical as formerly open office space. By the 1980s, cubicle subculture came to the fore. Comic strips like Dilbert and films like Office Space mocked the now restrictive space of the cubicle.