If there were not so many social issues to attend to in the world, wouldn't cubicles be illegal? If you put a child facing the wall in public school you can get into a lot of trouble. They say that this is corporal punishment. Yet, so many adults sit like that 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, for years and years. I do not understand how some people view this as healthy and normal.
I am currently employed in my first office job that has cubicles. I evaluate arts education programs and I cherish the days I'm able to do fieldwork. The whole office is grey and the wall are about 5 feet high. I now work there part time. Working there full time was visually disturbing for me. Although some people who work there do not think much of the visual environment, it negatively impacted my mood and my job as a whole. I will never again work in an atmosphere so visually confining. It is true that the computer opens up the visual space and acts as an outlet to the outside. For me, it's not enough.
If cubicles were to be considered a necessity, I would think that people would protest so that their cubicles are a somewhat decent color to look at, instead of drab neutrals. Most people would not paint their house a drab neutral without accenting the room with something to offset it. Yet, the visual culture of offices continues to perpetuate the experience of forcing people to endure such sights.
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