Alya's House

Purpose / Function

This is where Alya lives with her parents, two sisters, and brother.

Contents & Furnishings

Their furniture is simple, understated. But there are splashes of colour - printed rugs, ceramic tiling, vases with elaborate calligraphy swirling around the edges.
Because it is a firebrick clay home, it does get hot in the hotter seasons. There is nowhere for the heat to go. Which is why Alya's parents installed windows in random places. That helps, but it's still difficult sleeping at night in the summertime. But Alya is the only one who seeks refuge on the roof. The others are far too classy to sleep up there. When it rains, it also gets impossibly cold inside. But they have an indoor heater, unlike most of their neighbours. That cost a fortune.

Alterations

It's always looked fairly similar to what it does now. Alya can't remember much being changed about it. Except for all the plants that she grew in the front and back. It looks a lot more like a jungle now than it did before.

Architecture

It is a two-story firebrick clay building. Square, with a flat roof, like all the neighbouring houses. This is necessary because on the very hot days, everyone sleeps on their roofs, because the inside is stifling. The front and back garden are not very big, and their home is unlike others because it is fenced in. This was a deliberate attempt by Alya's parents to make sure they kept out beggars, and inferior people. The fence is just four-foot tall clay that goes all around. There is a dusty path that leads to a wooden front door with a brass knocker. There are things like that throughout the house - brass iron knockers, several sand blown glass windows in random places, limestone benches out the front. It is one way for her parents to reclaim some part of the life that used to be theirs - to overspend on things, to show they still could. And to show superiority. Though, Alya thinks it makes them look stupid. Their house is a mishmash of things that doesn't make any sense. And anyway, they can't afford any of it. Both her parents scrape the barrel of their savings to buy these things. Just for show.

Type

House

Parent Location

al-Quri