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.

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

Chen H.V.O + G.T. - Bertrand Lavier

Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles

Proposal for a permanent video installation for the NYC headquarters of Sony Corporation - Dara Birnbaum

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

Merci, Thank you, Danke: Les 2 sujets  - Thomas Hirschorn

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

Douglas Gordon - 5 year drive-by; proposal for a public artwork.

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4341
24.05.2011
“Immediate work” - Janet Stafford
WWW
“Immediate work” is the way I describe my new work and proposed work because the basis for it is a process that involves walking into the woods or walking outside anywhere, being aware of what I am noticing, and then using what I am noticing to make w ...
“Immediate work” is the way I describe my new work and proposed work because the basis for it is a process that involves walking into the woods or walking outside anywhere, being aware of what I am noticing, and then using what I am noticing to make w ...
U9706
01.01.1989
The insurer - Fabrice Hybert
Unbuilt Roads
Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre, il y a sans doute d'autres points que je n'ai pas imagines mais une conversation permettrait sans doute d'apporter des rectifications. Je sollicite votre bienveillance et votre engagement pour pouvoir m'autoriser a vous rencontr ...
Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre, il y a sans doute d'autres points que je n'ai pas imagines mais une conversation permettrait sans doute d'apporter des rectifications. Je sollicite votre bienveillance et votre engagement pour pouvoir m'autoriser a vous rencontr ...
W4026
22.05.2011
Lucia Cullinane Garcia
WWW
Paintings made with mainly acrylics and mix media, such a 3d effects on them. Stunning to look at and very provocative. Public in general love them and they always attract loads of attention. Different, unique and original they have been descrived. Lu ...
Paintings made with mainly acrylics and mix media, such a 3d effects on them. Stunning to look at and very provocative. Public in general love them and they always attract loads of attention. Different, unique and original they have been descrived. Lu ...
W4637
25.05.2011
Tesseract - Darr Tah Lei
WWW
Inside a Tesseract is a project for a polyptych of six installations placed inside the structure of an imaginary folding/unfolding cube. The content of the six installations will correlate to each other organically, by the composition of essential element ...
Inside a Tesseract is a project for a polyptych of six installations placed inside the structure of an imaginary folding/unfolding cube. The content of the six installations will correlate to each other organically, by the composition of essential element ...
U9903
01.01.1994
Art and Ourselves: A Proposal for the city of Nordhorn - Allen Rupperssberg
Unbuilt Roads
see my catalog from the Magazine. The complete text is there. (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Political Previous Publications (?) Catalog from where art Magazine 1996 Exisiting Documents: to be requested from No ...
see my catalog from the Magazine. The complete text is there. (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Political Previous Publications (?) Catalog from where art Magazine 1996 Exisiting Documents: to be requested from No ...
W3680
16.05.2011
THE STREAM - robert sherwood duffield
WWW
The Stream was a research project I had proposed at The University of Newcastle to be set and running by the year 2000 in Sydney. The Stream was to a 100-year continuous movie that would be available via a web page http://www.The-Stream.cc. There was to ...
The Stream was a research project I had proposed at The University of Newcastle to be set and running by the year 2000 in Sydney. The Stream was to a 100-year continuous movie that would be available via a web page http://www.The-Stream.cc. There was to ...
W3808
18.05.2011
Non-site seeing tours - Jen Urso
WWW
I will navigate through the city by its interstitial spaces. Using predetermined criteria for what qualifies as an interstitial space and matching mapping symbolism, I will go on walks through the city, avoiding usual thoroughfares and attraction points. ...
I will navigate through the city by its interstitial spaces. Using predetermined criteria for what qualifies as an interstitial space and matching mapping symbolism, I will go on walks through the city, avoiding usual thoroughfares and attraction points. ...
U9253
01.01.1969
A FAIRLY TALL TOWER, 48,000 Miles High -  - Siah Armajani
Unbuilt Roads
Location: Outer Space Status: Theoretical study Proposal to build a self-supporting tower suspended in space but anchored at one point to the earth (U. S. ). All synchronous satellites of the earth are located at the synchronous altitude. This al ...
Location: Outer Space Status: Theoretical study Proposal to build a self-supporting tower suspended in space but anchored at one point to the earth (U. S. ). All synchronous satellites of the earth are located at the synchronous altitude. This al ...
W4496
25.05.2011
john.gayer@hotmail.com
WWW
IRRECIPROCAL This intervention involves attending some regular meeting such as a popular university course. As people settle into the routineness of lecture schedule they often find a favorite chair or area in which to sit. Many people make friends an ...
IRRECIPROCAL This intervention involves attending some regular meeting such as a popular university course. As people settle into the routineness of lecture schedule they often find a favorite chair or area in which to sit. Many people make friends an ...
W5281
15.10.2012
The Sky Reaching Hammock - Adam Kalinowsk
WWW
2000, Poznan, Poland. Project for kinetic outdoor sculpture. Proposed total dimensions: 2200 x 7000 x 7000 cm. Steel, aircraft cable, wind turbines with reduction gears. Model in 1:8 scale. Propellers are pointed to various directions in relation to ...
2000, Poznan, Poland. Project for kinetic outdoor sculpture. Proposed total dimensions: 2200 x 7000 x 7000 cm. Steel, aircraft cable, wind turbines with reduction gears. Model in 1:8 scale. Propellers are pointed to various directions in relation to ...
W4457
25.05.2011
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary  - Suwan Laimanee
WWW
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary Bamboo Treehouse is a site-specific performance intended to provide an inspirational example of sustainable living to both the local and global population alike. The project is an ongoing interactive experiment, explorin ...
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary Bamboo Treehouse is a site-specific performance intended to provide an inspirational example of sustainable living to both the local and global population alike. The project is an ongoing interactive experiment, explorin ...
W3506
11.05.2011
Evidence of Difference - Sarah Hemm
WWW
Evidence of Difference criteria: must take one photograph every day of 2011 that will represent evidence of my difference
work must answer the question, “what makes me different? what am I doing today that is different than everyone else? what se ...
Evidence of Difference criteria: must take one photograph every day of 2011 that will represent evidence of my difference
work must answer the question, “what makes me different? what am I doing today that is different than everyone else? what se ...
W4383
25.05.2011
Lunch - Tra Bouscaren
WWW
Tra Bouscaren: Lunch For the "Lunch" project, I propose to cut off a piece of my own ass and have it grown in a laboratory until it reaches some kind of meal-like proportions, and then eat it as a performance. In addition, I would like to to make ...
Tra Bouscaren: Lunch For the "Lunch" project, I propose to cut off a piece of my own ass and have it grown in a laboratory until it reaches some kind of meal-like proportions, and then eat it as a performance. In addition, I would like to to make ...
U9578
01.01.1997
Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry
Unbuilt Roads
Design Intent: The main purpose of a footbridge across the Thames should be more than to transport people most efficiently from point A to point B. We propose, instead, a bridge where sociality becomes the dominant practical purpose, a structure which ...
Design Intent: The main purpose of a footbridge across the Thames should be more than to transport people most efficiently from point A to point B. We propose, instead, a bridge where sociality becomes the dominant practical purpose, a structure which ...
W3707
17.05.2011
Murat Germen
WWW
Photography is a powerful two dimensional representation tool to document three dimensional volumes like architecture. It is possible to manipulate photos with two dimensional tools like Photoshop in order to suggest new three dimensional re/formations an ...
Photography is a powerful two dimensional representation tool to document three dimensional volumes like architecture. It is possible to manipulate photos with two dimensional tools like Photoshop in order to suggest new three dimensional re/formations an ...
W4749
27.05.2011
Residual Geometries or the fable of the passenger, the cattle and, and the resource consumed. - Julain Santana
WWW
Public Space Intervention (The synopsis is in Spanish for now, but the English translation will be ready the next week) I have no budget or a potential sponsor for this artistic intervention. In essence this is a look into a public space in which rais ...
Public Space Intervention (The synopsis is in Spanish for now, but the English translation will be ready the next week) I have no budget or a potential sponsor for this artistic intervention. In essence this is a look into a public space in which rais ...
U9858
01.01.1995
"400" - Manfred Pernice
Unbuilt Roads
1995-96 Weile bestand ein Zusammenhang. eng. [unleserlich] ihn nicht gesucht. Möglichkeiten nahm er nicht wahr. Das Sockel (1) ergibt 11-fach vervielfältigt, Modell einer grosser Wohn- und Geschäftsanlag; [M?]aßtab 1:100, welches im Ausstellung ...
1995-96 Weile bestand ein Zusammenhang. eng. [unleserlich] ihn nicht gesucht. Möglichkeiten nahm er nicht wahr. Das Sockel (1) ergibt 11-fach vervielfältigt, Modell einer grosser Wohn- und Geschäftsanlag; [M?]aßtab 1:100, welches im Ausstellung ...
W5064
04.09.2012
SolarCircuit RAYsponse  - c a l c (omi - Thomas Scheiderbauer)
WWW
SolarCircuit RAYsponse is a project with the aim to let the façade of an institution (= a meaning charged façade) express itself in the public environment. its two architectonic/technical elements consist of a solar panel and a proportional related ima ...
SolarCircuit RAYsponse is a project with the aim to let the façade of an institution (= a meaning charged façade) express itself in the public environment. its two architectonic/technical elements consist of a solar panel and a proportional related ima ...
W10927
20.06.2015
If all the waves can be saved - Yifei He
WWW
One room, one chair with endless waves. I want to put waves into one space, it will end at the middle of the space, put one chair towards the waves . People can not step twice into the same river, and people also can not meet the very same two waves. ...
One room, one chair with endless waves. I want to put waves into one space, it will end at the middle of the space, put one chair towards the waves . People can not step twice into the same river, and people also can not meet the very same two waves. ...
W3709
17.05.2011
Temple Grandin - Teodoro Lupo
WWW
During a well and prominently attended vernissage, such as the Art Basel or Frieze opening, nitrous oxide (commonly known as laughing gas) will be poured into the air. Doors will be closed from outside. I (but I'm sure I will easily find some colleagues ...
During a well and prominently attended vernissage, such as the Art Basel or Frieze opening, nitrous oxide (commonly known as laughing gas) will be poured into the air. Doors will be closed from outside. I (but I'm sure I will easily find some colleagues ...
W3618
14.05.2011
jason lazarus
WWW
I have started an archive of impossible art ideas. The archive, when exhibited, is a digitally projected slide show, projected on a small white wooden cube sitting on the floor of the exhibition space. ...
I have started an archive of impossible art ideas. The archive, when exhibited, is a digitally projected slide show, projected on a small white wooden cube sitting on the floor of the exhibition space. ...
W3846
19.05.2011
We Prowl - Jodi Patterson
WWW
"We Prowl" series. Drew idealistic male forms on plastic as inspired by online personal profiles. Titles came from the tag lines used to lure a mate (submitting "Black Cat Hunting 4 Goddess" and "Wealth and Power"). Wealthy and Strong * 32- ...
"We Prowl" series. Drew idealistic male forms on plastic as inspired by online personal profiles. Titles came from the tag lines used to lure a mate (submitting "Black Cat Hunting 4 Goddess" and "Wealth and Power"). Wealthy and Strong * 32- ...
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 ...
W5457
20.10.2012
BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) - Ann Daly
WWW
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) Part of a larger project "Looking for the Labyrinth: Re-collecting Versailles". Cast white porcelain, sculptural walls, total size approximately 16 feet x 12 ...
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) Part of a larger project "Looking for the Labyrinth: Re-collecting Versailles". Cast white porcelain, sculptural walls, total size approximately 16 feet x 12 ...
W4691
26.05.2011
ZOE MACKLER
WWW
George W. Bush Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity ...
George W. Bush Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity ...
W5392
20.10.2012
Pieterjan Grandry
WWW
Absence stimulates the need for completion and the design of these ideas is what makes the intangible absent concrete. Talking about absence in an urban spot (the incomplete tower of Antwerp’s cathedral), one might think of utopia. Utopia is the non-pla ...
Absence stimulates the need for completion and the design of these ideas is what makes the intangible absent concrete. Talking about absence in an urban spot (the incomplete tower of Antwerp’s cathedral), one might think of utopia. Utopia is the non-pla ...