The idea of leisure connoting free time makes it synonymous with
laziness and wastefulness which does not fit very well within African traditional
thought. In the colonial era, the idea of leisure was seen as alien to the
Africans and in the post-colonial era, some people associated it with idleness
and irresponsibility. A deeper dig however in history, shows the African man and
woman kept themselves entertained on specific occasions whenever they were
not working. These pastime activities included dance, bull fighting, games,

Looking at the present through the perspective of the past is not a new idea (Kamenju, 2013). This
paper involves insights into the traditional house design transition in East Africa. It entails the process of
development of African house design from traditional design to contemporary design. The paper discusses
a brief background of African traditional house designs. Using desk study methods, it analyzed in depth
- from a design perspective - three key cases of three East African communities; the Agikuyu of Kenya,

Vernacular architecture evolves over time reflecting the characteristics of the local environment, climate, culture,
natural materials, technology and the experience of centuries of community building. Mostly, men build the house and
the women decorate the facades. All the figures have a symbolic meaning. This paper studied east African vernacular
wall decorations from an art and design point of view. The objective was to document the fast fading cultural practices