Building off of earlier prototypes, in the 1960s Propst introduced the "Action Office II" to the public. If a given employee required or preferred a certain amount of space in which to work, the modular nature of Propst's lightweight wall design was meant to easily provide it. In the media he was praised for his revolutionary and then-brightly colored office concept (via Wired). However, the businesses that adopted his system warped it into one that would do little except benefit their pocketbooks (via Scientific American).
In just a few decades the walls of Propst's model were fixed into small grey cubicles ideal for large numbers of employees to be shoved into, thus reducing the cost of additional office space at the expense of employee comfort. This new environment emerged at the same time as the recession, rendering the cubicle a reminder of how at any moment an employee could be fired (via Vox). Not unlike Dr. Frankenstein, Propst could do little as this perversion of his creation gained traction across the world. While modern companies are making strides in creating liberating office space, millions remain trapped in the monotonous grey (via Herman Miller).
By the end of his career, Propst had more than 120 patents to his credit. He died in 2000.
