Super Eco

"When I grow up, I wanna' work in a cubicle, Mommy." I would tell you that my 5-year-old son said this to me after a grueling 9-to-5 with his dad in Corporate Cubicle Land on "Take Your Child To Work Day," but that would make me a big, fat liar. Don't tell his daddy this: our little anarchist hated it, enough to say he'd "never ever, ever, ever!" go back. That was two years ago, back before offices were made of the best toys on Earth—cardboard boxes, or, as my son would say, Legos for big people. 

Yep, with kids, it's all about The Box, hardly ever the fancy toy neatly (make that frustratingly; darn knotted twist-ties!) on lockdown inside. Maybe that's what artist Paul Coudamy was thinking when he designed an office interior made almost completely of recycled cardboard for an advertising agency in Paris. To get the job done in a hurry and on-budget, Coudamy employed two more childhood favs—glue and duct tape. And voila! You have 20 space-efficient work stations, surprisingly sturdy desks, even acoustic "confessional style" meeting rooms, all carved from 1 1/2" thick water-resistant honeycomb cardboard. Way to give my cat's scratching post an inferiority complex.

Cardboard just might be the ultimate green building block for the modern office, or any other space you can fill. It's sustainable, stackable, lightweight and it's easy and fun to upcycle (tinfoil-covered robots anyone?). Incroiable, n'est pas? Sure, except for the VOC-leaching glue that holds it together, unless you use this stuff. 

Coudamy isn't the only one thinking outside the box.

Jef Raskin, the genius behind the Mac, was also the genius behind Bloxes, amazingly strong, versatile oversized cardboard jigsaw pieces that interlock to become walls, furniture, art, and, back to kids again, killer forts.

Want more crazy cardboard office Tetris? There's more to unfold at Foldschool and Cardboard Designs.

Now that you're thinking outside, or rather, inside the box, check out this nifty cardboard Christmas tree, just in time for all those gift—you guessed it—boxes.