Our friends Erin and Julie over at Electronic Arts recently sent us some screenshots of modern design products in their game The Sims 2 which launches today. It prompted us to put some questions about modernism to The Sims team, and Charles London, the creative director and lead designer on The Sims 2, was nice enough to give us his thoughts.

Are the Sims players modernists?

I think it depends on what you mean by Modernist. If you mean someone who has a taste for modern design, I think many are, as we have an incredibly wide audience and Modernism has proven it has an enduring appeal for many people. If you mean someone who strives to express a forward-leaning world view that puts emphasis on progress and the transcending of traditional visual forms, I bet the answer is yes, but probably to a far smaller degree.

Do a lot of customers request modern design additions to the game?

Most of our requests are about functionality or new storytelling, for example: “I want new things for my baby or toddler” or “I want to be able to have an elevator”, but some do request styles. Modern design is already fairly well represented in our game. When we imagine what we’ll add, decoratively speaking, we often try to imagine what kinds of people our players want their Sims to represent. So we try to give stylistic choices that span a wide gamut, such as Country, Antique, Deco and, yes, Modern. When we say “Modern”, we try to be as accurate as possible: for example, Le- Corbusier inspired furniture, as opposed to “Contemporary”, which are the forms of today that are popular. Contemporary forms owe a lot to Modern forms, but have incorporated so many other influences that we feel it’s good to make a distinction.

How does the interior design aspect change the Sims experience overall?

When a Player is exploring the interior design aspect of the game, they are really making a statement about who their Sims are inside. When they choose a particular set of objects, it’s being guided by some kind of idea about what would be “right” for these Sims. Maybe its “right” because in the Player’s mind it’s what was chosen by the Sims, or maybe it’s right because they are telling some story about a Sim who doesn’t like their surroundings, like a punk teen stuck at home with stodgy parents. Maybe they’re even making their own home. Regardless of the motivation, the fact that there are choices to be made and layouts to be created means the player is building a complex emotional backstory for the game that is one of the foundation stones of how the player emotionally invests in The Sims.

What are some of the favorite pieces you have designed so far? What has inspired the designs?

Personally, I love the Moroccan items, with their incredible colors and geometric ornamentation, and I also really dig the “club” style leather chairs that look so rich and buttery. I personally have never been much of a modernist, preferring instead the more humanist and traditional movements. I love the round, amorphous shapes of our Studio Bakonmi chairs and sofas. They’re definitely built on many Modernist concepts, but more organic and lush than traditional Modernist execution.

Can you tell us about some of the dream houses that people have put together?

They’ve made everything. They’ve made Hollywood Hills ultra-mod homes, and Victorian Haunted Houses. They’ve made Japanese Pagodas and surreal dreamlike homes that defy categorization. What I love about these Dream homes, though, is the strength of vision behind the Player’s efforts. They know what works and what doesn’t. And often, the limitations of what we’ve given them and what we haven’t, either by choice of by necessity, results in some of the strongest work they do. I firmly believe in limitation producing excellence, so long as the limitations aren’t so tight as to close off experimentation.

Have you seen any modern designs from the players that have surprised you?

One that comes to mind is a multi-level glass and stone terraced affair, with the whole thing looking like a 3-d chess set. Different rooms on different pylons, with glass stairs connecting them all. Very enticing and experimental, and totally exciting.