Very true...I recently took a hacker position at an early stage startup. We're working out of a converted warehouse in Cambridge Ma....Can't tell you how much of a difference an open, natural environment makes.

I wonder if someone from a society where brick and wood is the "dull" office norm (it looks like it certainly could be) would welcome "cloth-covered cube walls" as refreshing.

Probably. Just look at the "futuristic" building materials of the 40's and 50's (before which everything was basically brick and wood). They look hideous now but people raved for them because of the novelty. But brick/timber is likely to remain scarce and popular because it's uneconomical to build now so there won't be a glut again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shmance/2251201415/