New Family on the Block

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

My first themed open content model library, The Gilman Street Project, has been such a positive artistic experience for me that I thought I would continue to expand on that idea and go even bigger this time. The South of Market Area (SOMA) in San Francisco is a huge sprawling neighborhood in transition. Formerly home to slaughterhouses, coppersmiths, auto body shops and flophouses, the SOMA district has gone through huge change over the past 20 years. The dotcom bubble of the mid nineties accelerated the pace of the boom in the area and the landscape is now dotted with high-rise condos, office parks and the most beautiful ballpark in the country. I chose the name of SOMA holiday for another reason. It comes from Brave New World. Soma was a state-sanctioned drug that was used to basically mask the reality of the world from the general populace. There is a similar feeling I get walking the streets here -- if you look closely, underneath the immaculately manicured condo lobbies and industrial park plazas there is a layer of grime and decay. I love seeing rust at the bottom of a shiny trash can.

The pack is just a baby pack right now, but it will grow over time. Here's what's inside so far.



The file can be downloaded from here.

Stay free.

~shs~