Why Google Loves the Open-Plan No Cubicle Workspace Essay

Total Length: 674 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

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Global Issues in Design and Visuality in the 21st Century

Global Design & Visuality

Headline: Cubicles Rise in a Brave New World of Publishing

The New York Times

The open-plan office space complete with cubicles has broken down the once hallowed walls of Manhattan's literary elite: publishing houses. Editors, who once prided themselves on their well-appointed offices reminiscent of British gentlemen's clubs, must eschew their former reclusiveness in favor of chummy shoulder-to-shoulder camaraderie. The change is driven by falling profit margins and the desire to maintain headquarters within Manhattan, close to the literary agents and media outlets that are the wheels on the publishing vehicle. Many editors consider the idea of open-plan offices and cubicles anathema to the intellectual work publishing entails. Those needing more quiet spaces are forced to work at home in the evenings or slink off to the tiny conference rooms known as "quiet cars." Open-plan offices are becoming standard in many industries, despite any real evidence that the design contributes in any real way to work quality or efficiency. Open-plan offices are the design equivalent of the tail wagging the dog.

Link between reading and news source:

Design is pervasive and quickly becomes embedded in society in ways that come to seem natural and as though they have always been there, in just that form.

Global Issue:

Ways of working often follow trends that have little evidence-based science to demonstrate that the approaches are superior, or even truly desirable from any perspective other than trendiness.

Stuck Writing Your "Why Google Loves the Open-Plan No Cubicle Workspace" Essay?

Consider the Google work environment: There are slides between floors, acoustically supported napping pods, ping-pong and other table games. Google is also a proponent of flexible, completely mobile work environments. In many ways, Google might be said to be anti-cubicle. However, the company has adapted the open environment that is one of the primary arguments for using cubicles in the workplace.

How does it relate to design?

The trend toward movable furnishings absent dedicated purpose and functions suggested by the inherent design. Workers are expected to move the furnishings and equipment around in the workspace according to whim or a desire to assemble a group of ad hoc workers. If any worker in a flexible environment has any thoughts about feng shui, they are unlikely to share their concerns. The only rule is no rules -- or at least no traditional rules.

Does it relate to other disciplines?

In the classic….....

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Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Why Google Loves The Open-Plan No Cubicle Workspace" (2014, November 10) Retrieved May 21, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/google-loves-open-plan-cubicle-workspace-2153628

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Why Google Loves The Open-Plan No Cubicle Workspace" 10 November 2014. Web.21 May. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/google-loves-open-plan-cubicle-workspace-2153628>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Why Google Loves The Open-Plan No Cubicle Workspace", 10 November 2014, Accessed.21 May. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/google-loves-open-plan-cubicle-workspace-2153628