Unlike unrealized architectural projects, which are frequently exhibited and circulated, unrealized artworks tend to remain unnoticed or little known. But perhaps there is another form of artistic agency in the partial expression, the incomplete idea, the projection of a mere intention? Agency of Unrealized Projects (AUP) seeks to document and display these works. Whether censored, forgotten, postponed, impossible, or rejected, unrealized projects form a unique testament to the speculative power of non-action.

AUP follows the publication entitled “Unbuilt Roads: 107 Unrealized Projects,” collated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Guy Tortosa after several years of international research conducted in the late 1990s. Twenty years later, the Agency of Unrealized Projects was formed in collaboration with Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle, and an open call for unrealized projects was issued for its first public exhibition at ArtBasel in 2011. The open call will continue until all unrealized art projects are compiled.

Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

Broadway Musicals - Christian Marclay

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

Relatum (Iron Plate and Stone) - Lee Ufan

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

A FAIRLY TALL TOWER, 48,000 Miles High -  - Siah Armajani

<A Public Misery Message> - Critical Art Ensemble

Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4601
25.05.2011
180˚ - Magdalen Chua
WWW
In May 2010, we submitted a proposal for the use of TriSpace, a triangular-shaped gallery space at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. TriSpace was, in the words of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, intended to be ...
In May 2010, we submitted a proposal for the use of TriSpace, a triangular-shaped gallery space at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. TriSpace was, in the words of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, intended to be ...
W3661
15.05.2011
Efrat Kedem
WWW
Project description All over the world there are bus stops, They serves us as buildings for a fleeting moment, a man passes them and wait some time before the bus arrives, then, continues on his way, We stand or sit in stations for a few minutes, some ...
Project description All over the world there are bus stops, They serves us as buildings for a fleeting moment, a man passes them and wait some time before the bus arrives, then, continues on his way, We stand or sit in stations for a few minutes, some ...
W4524
25.05.2011
Star Museum in Sharjah - Star Museum in Sharjah by A12
WWW
Star Museum in Sharjah by A12 Our proposal for Sharjah Art Foundation Production Programme was to build a temporary pavilion to host the first stage of the Star Museum, a travelling museum dedicated to the stars. The stars in this museum are not inten ...
Star Museum in Sharjah by A12 Our proposal for Sharjah Art Foundation Production Programme was to build a temporary pavilion to host the first stage of the Star Museum, a travelling museum dedicated to the stars. The stars in this museum are not inten ...
W10320
17.04.2014
TAU - Jugoslav Mitevski, Frances Scholz, Sarah Steiner
WWW
Request: A building conglomerate approached us* with the request to bring to life again a vacancy in a critically endangered street. Proposal: Inspired by Buckminster Fuller‘s ideas of provoking “change of directions” by creating a vacuum we pr ...
Request: A building conglomerate approached us* with the request to bring to life again a vacancy in a critically endangered street. Proposal: Inspired by Buckminster Fuller‘s ideas of provoking “change of directions” by creating a vacuum we pr ...
W4400
25.05.2011
INCEPTION - Nick Sung
WWW
EPTION The installation of an exact replica of an AMC movie theatre in Emeryville, California in which a section of the end credits of Christopher Nolan's Inception will play, continuously looped, day and night, ad infinitum. Against the backdrop o ...
EPTION The installation of an exact replica of an AMC movie theatre in Emeryville, California in which a section of the end credits of Christopher Nolan's Inception will play, continuously looped, day and night, ad infinitum. Against the backdrop o ...
W4635
25.05.2011
“Handy Space Bags”  - Valeska Peschke
WWW
“Handy Space Bags” Kafka wrote: "Everyone carries a room about him." Everyone carries a room about him through other rooms. I hope to examine and detect ‘traverse rooms’ . In daily life, moving through the city, the utilities needed are enclos ...
“Handy Space Bags” Kafka wrote: "Everyone carries a room about him." Everyone carries a room about him through other rooms. I hope to examine and detect ‘traverse rooms’ . In daily life, moving through the city, the utilities needed are enclos ...
W5348
18.10.2012
The house skin project - Rebecca Harris
WWW
The house skin project was intended to explore the transitory and fragile nature of home. Placing lightweight muslin fabric onto the entire side of a windowless brick wall an indexical print would remain. The project got as far as a trial piece, as seen ...
The house skin project was intended to explore the transitory and fragile nature of home. Placing lightweight muslin fabric onto the entire side of a windowless brick wall an indexical print would remain. The project got as far as a trial piece, as seen ...
W3855
19.05.2011
Rudi Stanzel
WWW
This project is a monument, planned to have been built on the grounds of a former trainstation, for thousands of Jews, Roma and Sinti which were deported during the WW II from there. Three tracks from different directions meet and rear up, building a kno ...
This project is a monument, planned to have been built on the grounds of a former trainstation, for thousands of Jews, Roma and Sinti which were deported during the WW II from there. Three tracks from different directions meet and rear up, building a kno ...
W5390
20.10.2012
Jesvin Yeo
WWW
Unrealized Project by Jesvin Yeo The initial intention of this project was to design and create a series of dolls to illustrate the dark period of Singapore in 1950s. When there had been more than 30 secret societies and almost everyday, there were gan ...
Unrealized Project by Jesvin Yeo The initial intention of this project was to design and create a series of dolls to illustrate the dark period of Singapore in 1950s. When there had been more than 30 secret societies and almost everyday, there were gan ...
W4831
07.08.2012
Noa P. Kaplan
WWW
The lens is composed of countless arrays of glass microspheres, connected by a mesh of tiny lens fibers, and encircled by the Ciliary Muscle of the eye. Electric signals pass through the nanofiber mesh, carrying datasets of folding patterns. When activate ...
The lens is composed of countless arrays of glass microspheres, connected by a mesh of tiny lens fibers, and encircled by the Ciliary Muscle of the eye. Electric signals pass through the nanofiber mesh, carrying datasets of folding patterns. When activate ...
W4160
23.05.2011
Absolut Hypocrisy II - simon tyszko
WWW
Absolut Hypocrisy II reference: Notes further to a number of meetings at both the Bolivian and Venezuelan embassies in London Dearest Zuleiva (cultural attaché Venezuela, London) The projects i am proposing are to be a high profile individual ...
Absolut Hypocrisy II reference: Notes further to a number of meetings at both the Bolivian and Venezuelan embassies in London Dearest Zuleiva (cultural attaché Venezuela, London) The projects i am proposing are to be a high profile individual ...
W4580
25.05.2011
Map of Incomplete Listing of Uninhabited Islands of the World - Katrina Moorhead
WWW
Map of Incomplete Listing of Uninhabited Islands of the World, April 2009, 2009 Archival digital print and watercolor on watercolor paper. 30 x 49-3/4 inches Individually researched, specifically uninhabited islands are charted on a map by coordina ...
Map of Incomplete Listing of Uninhabited Islands of the World, April 2009, 2009 Archival digital print and watercolor on watercolor paper. 30 x 49-3/4 inches Individually researched, specifically uninhabited islands are charted on a map by coordina ...
W4040
22.05.2011
"vulgariskamer" a nomadic hybrid cabinet of curiosities... - Susana Pinto
WWW
An utopia auto-narrative. Gleaning of “things” became an obsession, not for the anxiety of collecting them but more for the necessity of transforming them. The things or the “vulgaris” ( vulgarity) are gleaned according to specific criteria - p ...
An utopia auto-narrative. Gleaning of “things” became an obsession, not for the anxiety of collecting them but more for the necessity of transforming them. The things or the “vulgaris” ( vulgarity) are gleaned according to specific criteria - p ...
W10475
27.04.2014
Archive of Forgotten Ideas - Cecilia Guida and 42 contributors
WWW
Sometimes we have ideas that we like but for rational, emotional or practical reasons we think they won’t work out or we aren’t able to develop them at that moment. Consequently we keep them apart, “hide” them somewhere in a peripheral and little ...
Sometimes we have ideas that we like but for rational, emotional or practical reasons we think they won’t work out or we aren’t able to develop them at that moment. Consequently we keep them apart, “hide” them somewhere in a peripheral and little ...
W5218
07.10.2012
Batta Mon - OKAMOTO Mitsuhiro
WWW
In this case, I mean unaccomplished exhibition period as 'unrealized project'. After the show started, Louis Vuitton has asked KOBE FASHION MUSEUM to stop showing my artwork 'Batta Mon', to stop selling the show catalog and also to remove the show poster ...
In this case, I mean unaccomplished exhibition period as 'unrealized project'. After the show started, Louis Vuitton has asked KOBE FASHION MUSEUM to stop showing my artwork 'Batta Mon', to stop selling the show catalog and also to remove the show poster ...
W4043
22.05.2011
THE LIVING WATER - Rodica A Miller
WWW
There have always been vanguardists, people with innovative ideas who opened new horizons and trends. For me, this is one of my unrealized projects for Art & Technology. As a subjective experience, my painting is an illusory world of colors, metaphors ...
There have always been vanguardists, people with innovative ideas who opened new horizons and trends. For me, this is one of my unrealized projects for Art & Technology. As a subjective experience, my painting is an illusory world of colors, metaphors ...
W4203
24.05.2011
Wendy Shaw
WWW
W4159
23.05.2011
Asymmetric Flight - andreas kopp
WWW
Asymmetric Flight Concept for a mobilé in public space. With attached documents I would like to introduce a concept (from 2009) which I so far have not been able to realize. ...
Asymmetric Flight Concept for a mobilé in public space. With attached documents I would like to introduce a concept (from 2009) which I so far have not been able to realize. ...
W10561
08.06.2014
THE FLUID PAVILION OF ARCHITECTURE - MARIA KARACHRISTOU
WWW
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
U9731
01.01.1988
Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata
Unbuilt Roads
Please see the enclosed leaflet· "Tower Crane, Paris" (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Financial, technical and organisation problems Previous Publications (?) Enclosed ...
Please see the enclosed leaflet· "Tower Crane, Paris" (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Financial, technical and organisation problems Previous Publications (?) Enclosed ...
W4659
25.05.2011
Correspondence. - Mark Rowan-Hull
WWW
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
W3789
18.05.2011
DREAMS IN THE SEA-WITCH HOUSE-BOAT - Mollie Mckinley
WWW
In July 2010, a draft of this artwork was created as an experimental 24-hour site-specific installation in Far Rockaway, Brooklyn, curated by Jess Shaefer, former Director of Hendershot Gallery, NYC. The final and complete boat, as outlined below, has no ...
In July 2010, a draft of this artwork was created as an experimental 24-hour site-specific installation in Far Rockaway, Brooklyn, curated by Jess Shaefer, former Director of Hendershot Gallery, NYC. The final and complete boat, as outlined below, has no ...
U9807
01.01.1997
Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles
Unbuilt Roads
A cube with a side measurement of 9 mm, consisting of two transverse sections: one of pine and the other of oak, trees that represented mythical beings in the cosmology of the Tupi Indians, beings whose correlation (mistakenly interpreted by the Jesuits a ...
A cube with a side measurement of 9 mm, consisting of two transverse sections: one of pine and the other of oak, trees that represented mythical beings in the cosmology of the Tupi Indians, beings whose correlation (mistakenly interpreted by the Jesuits a ...
W5270
13.10.2012
neomad - GrubyPunkt Urban Lab
WWW
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
W4454
25.05.2011
Skin and shelter!  - Resa Gartner
WWW
Skin and shelter! The contemporary city provides many of the existential layers necessary to accommodate an extremely fast paced society. Today, diverse environments intersect in the same spaces. Virtual and real existing places gather or loose in imp ...
Skin and shelter! The contemporary city provides many of the existential layers necessary to accommodate an extremely fast paced society. Today, diverse environments intersect in the same spaces. Virtual and real existing places gather or loose in imp ...
U9533
01.01.1992
AUSSICHTSTURM, HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS), SCHWIMMBECKEN, FREIE FAHRT - Maria Eichhorn
Unbuilt Roads
AUSSICHTSTURM Auf der höchsten Erhebung einer Landschaft einen 33 Meter hohen Aussichtsturm in einer offenen Konstruktion (Stahlskelettbauweise) bauen. Mit standigen Offnungszeiten. HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS) In einer Gegend mit wenigen oder keinen Hau ...
AUSSICHTSTURM Auf der höchsten Erhebung einer Landschaft einen 33 Meter hohen Aussichtsturm in einer offenen Konstruktion (Stahlskelettbauweise) bauen. Mit standigen Offnungszeiten. HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS) In einer Gegend mit wenigen oder keinen Hau ...