The Henry W. and Marion H. Bloch Gallery of Art, an expansion to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, fuses architecture with landscape and features five striking glass "lenses" rising from the rolling terrain on the east side of the Museum. These lenses house gallery space that dots the landscape and allows diffuse light to enter the galleries below and respond to the undulating topography outside. The expansion is the first major addition to this cultural institution and Beaux-Arts style structure since it opened in 1933. It is considered a "feather" to the original museum's "stone."

The new addition contains galleries and public facilities including an entry lobby, an art library, a cafe and a sculpture court devoted to the works of Isamu Noguchi. About 55 percent more space is available for the Museum's permanent collection and space for special exhibits is doubled. BNIM was selected to serve as Architect of Record with Design Architect Steven Holl on this major expansion.