The new East Building seen from Fine Arts Drive (North façade). Image courtesy of the Saint Louis Art Museum and Architectural Wall Systems. Photo by: Jacob Sharp.

An Introduction to Modern Textiles: Kit out your furniture in luxurious silk or no-frills leather,; textiles can add just as much dimension to room as art, and can be equally collectible.

The St. Louis Arch (1965), Saarinen's most recognizable architectural feat, is located in the heart of St. Louis.

The architect famously asked, "What does this building want to be?" when starting a project. In the case of this museum, Kahn incorporated skylights to diffuse natural light throughout as a way to illuminate the artworks.

The building’s specific orientation on the site, neither parallel nor orthogonal to the street, allows galleries to receive a maximum amount of natural light.

Skylights allow for the natural variability of light to occur and reproduce the lighting embraced by Long Island artists, showing the versatility of each piece of art depending on weather conditions.

In creating this place for visitors to rest and take in the lush landscape, Herzog & de Meuron's lead architect Ascan Mergenthaler says the built-in benches put the concrete walls on a more “human scale” without interrupting the streamlined façade.

Most of the galleries at the new North Carolina Museum of Art are naturally daylit.

Doug Reed, landscape architect on the project, incorporated indigenous plants into the surrounding site; the large expanse of meadows will flourish in the coming years.

Produced by Emeco and designed by Konstantin Grgic of Munich-based KGID specifically for the museum, the Parrish Chair will be launched at Salone del Mobile in April of 2013.

Get a dose of art and the great outdoors by visiting the Audain Art Museum. The principals will confirm that this trip is worth driving outside of Vancouver to visit the museum in Whistler. Designed by Patkau Architects, the museum was placed behind the background of Canada’s expansive wilderness.

Classic butterfly chairs from Universal Patio Furniture are stationed by the pool. The mural is by street artist Morley, a close friend.

A wide corridor, essentially the spine of the building, is flanked by galleries, the café and gift shop, administrative offices and a 200-seat multi-purpose room.

Reclaimed pine and plywood make up the interior ceiling which is pitched at an angle and fitted with pipes to allow drainage.

From windows on either side of the administrative offices, visitors can view the inner-workings of the museum. As more of the permanent collection comes out of storage due to the increase in space, the offices will be a staging ground for curatorial and museum staff.

The café and gift shop are installations in and of themselves, capitalizing on the salvaged wood materials to create a more intimate environment within the museum.

Living Moss wall in powder room created by Minarc.

The galleries feature sliding sun screens made from Richlite, a sustainable material that is made locally from recycled paper, organic fiber, and phenolic resin.

This rendering shows Gwathmey Seigel's plans for the expansion of the museum.

A shot of one of the new galleries in the Crocker Art Museum expansion. Photo by Brian Suhr.

The Lewis and Clark library branch in Moline Acres, Missouri, north of St. Louis. Photograph copyright 2012 Andrew Raimist, RaimistDesign.com.

The interior of the library as it appeared in 1963. Photo originally published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, courtesy of Lindsey Derrington.

Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri (1891)Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building is referred to in the documentary as the "first building that reveled in height." Sullivan claimed to have conceived the design in only three minutes and wrote that a skyscraper "must be every inch a proud and soaring thing." Sullivan's modern, steel-frame building set the tone for the next century of skyscrapers.

A preliminary rendering of the proposed new library building. Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build.

The windows bear the signature of Harmon's firm, Emil Frei & Associates. Photograph copyright 2012 Andrew Raimist, RaimistDesign.com.

A rendering of a proposed 3,500-square-foot addition that would preserve Dunn's original building. This proposal was designed by Neil Chace of SPACE Architects and Modern STL's board president; Jeremy Clagett of SPACE Architects; and Jon Hagar of Fox Architects. Image courtesy of Modern STL.

Another preliminary rendering of the proposed new library building. Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build.

Designed by the architect Frederick Dunn, the library building opened to the public in January 1963. Photo by Lindsey Derrington.

The stained glass windows, designed by Robert Harmon of Emil Frei & Associates, featured Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their interpreter and guide, Sacagawea, as well as buffaloes, fish, and other flora and fauna. Photograph copyright 2012 Andrew Raimist, RaimistDesign.com.

A detail of Robert Harmon's stained-glass windows. Photograph copyright 2012 Andrew Raimist, RaimistDesign.com.

Photograph copyright 2012 Andrew Raimist, RaimistDesign.com.

The interior of the library as it appears today. Photo by Lindsey Derrington.

Recalling the arched construction of Roman architects, Kahn's tubular museum design utilizes a row of cycloid barrel vaults, lined with reflective skylights that funnel natural light into the lengthy galleries.

The structure features a large atrium and windows that overlook the landscape.

Also a designer of museums such as the Dallas Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Barnes took on a smaller-scale commission in 1990 that was close to his heart—building a new home for Westchester's Katonah Museum of Art, where he was a trustee.

A rendering shows the Museum of Modern Art's 53rd Street entrance as it would appear after an overhaul of the museum's midtown campus. Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.