Architect Ilyas Hussain

I work out of a house at H.No.7-1202/21-C in Gulbarga. It is near the Bilal Masjid in the Bilalabad area, so you can always hear the call to prayer throughout the day, which gives the place a nice rhythm. Being an architect here means dealing with a lot of heat, so the office is mostly shaded and we keep the windows shut during the afternoon. The desk is usually covered in blueprints, yellow tracing paper, and a lot of half-used pencils. It is not the most organized space, but I know where everything is. People from the neighborhood often stop by to ask about building projects or just to see what is being drawn. I also have some samples of stone and wood piled up in the corner that I show to people when they cannot decide what they want for their floors. It is a messy way to work, with all these heavy things lying around, but it is better than looking at pictures on a screen. Karnataka gets quite dusty, and my shelves are always covered in a thin layer of it no matter how much I clean. I have been in this spot for quite some time now, and the building itself is starting to show its age with a few cracks here and there, but it is home. There is no big staff, just a few stools and a drafting board that I have had since I started. I spend most of my hours here sketching and thinking. It is quiet, steady work.