#HTE

What is the Point of These Architect-Designed, Anti-COVID Sealed Cubicles?

These architect-designed anti-COVID sealed cubicles won a 2020 DNA Paris Design Award and are making the rounds. Call me crazy, but I don’t see the point.

“Qworkntine is an air tight pod system, that can provide safety and protection within the physical work place, while maintaining the same number of employees per square meter as a traditional office system. The Qwork-pod has a Hexagonal hive like shape, which offers flexibly to suit any office layout. It features an automatic handle-less airtight acrylic door, controlled by facial recognition, and ventilation fans with built-in air purifiers. The pod is envisioned as made of hygiene friendly non-porous materials that can be easily cleaned and disinfected to avoid contamination.”

If you’re working in a cubicle, that’s “knowledge work,” which can be done remotely. By now all of us have videoconferencing down. In what situation would we need to report to an office, to be sealed off? Would the cost of these justify itself to anyone who doesn’t work in commercial real estate? And perhaps more importantly, what sane person wants to work inside of a small, sealed chamber?

It’s worth noting that the last time I crapped all over an anti-COVID design were those plastic dining pendulums. The next day they went into production. (And I still think they’re not a good design.)