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.

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken

Project pour le parc de sculpture de Vassiviére - Paul-Armand Gette

To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski

"400" - Manfred Pernice

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Mahe Gilles

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

Social Resource Project For the Munich Olympics - Stephen Willats

119. PROJET DE DESTRUCTION DU MUSEE 1970 - 1971 - Jef Geys

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3577
13.05.2011
DIMENSIONS VARIABLE: a proposal 07.2010! - Raul J Mendez
WWW
CONTEXT My work reads as a reconciliation of opposites between the private and the public. In other words, it is a codified puzzle of images that continues to grow and develop, drawing from my personal experience as well as from the public domain. There ...
CONTEXT My work reads as a reconciliation of opposites between the private and the public. In other words, it is a codified puzzle of images that continues to grow and develop, drawing from my personal experience as well as from the public domain. There ...
W5473
21.10.2012
On Recalling - Rodrigo Hgz
WWW
In this initiative, I sought companies (corporations) and organizations that held in their name a twisted pride on our colonial past in Canada. The companies closed down long ago, but the pride in their names expressed a perspective that has been collecti ...
In this initiative, I sought companies (corporations) and organizations that held in their name a twisted pride on our colonial past in Canada. The companies closed down long ago, but the pride in their names expressed a perspective that has been collecti ...
W5245
10.10.2012
No.2 - Jim Bay
WWW
No.2 Come on Jim, make it happen. Do it. Focus. You can do it. I know that what you do isn't easy, but you chose this path Jim and have been treading it a good many years now. This fear, is amateurish. Come on Jim, you have lived, loved and lost. You h ...
No.2 Come on Jim, make it happen. Do it. Focus. You can do it. I know that what you do isn't easy, but you chose this path Jim and have been treading it a good many years now. This fear, is amateurish. Come on Jim, you have lived, loved and lost. You h ...
W4953
20.08.2012
Monika Drożyńska
WWW
Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art is an animator of a new artistic project whose aim is to create a permanent collection of artworks in the urban space. It is supposed to act as a stimulus to change the character of the district, where the institution ...
Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art is an animator of a new artistic project whose aim is to create a permanent collection of artworks in the urban space. It is supposed to act as a stimulus to change the character of the district, where the institution ...
W4503
25.05.2011
The Dead Brushes Society - Paulo Patrício
WWW
The Dead Brushes Society Unrealized project for an exhibition presenting old or/and unused brushes who belong to acclaimed contemporary artists. Brushes they love or with which they did major works (or at least, representative of they're career). That du ...
The Dead Brushes Society Unrealized project for an exhibition presenting old or/and unused brushes who belong to acclaimed contemporary artists. Brushes they love or with which they did major works (or at least, representative of they're career). That du ...
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 ...
W4849
08.08.2012
Excavation  - Mario Asef
WWW
Mario Asef EXCAVATION Unrealized project for the exhibition “Architecture” in Küntlerhaus Bregenz – Austria / 2008 //////////////////////////////////////// ...
Mario Asef EXCAVATION Unrealized project for the exhibition “Architecture” in Küntlerhaus Bregenz – Austria / 2008 //////////////////////////////////////// ...
W4393
25.05.2011
Ground Control - Sylvia Schwenk
WWW
SYLVIA SCHWENK PROJECT CONCEPT STATEMENT Ground Control is a work of participatory performance art that will be presented in two stages. The first stage will be a live performance that will take place at night-time by everyday-people-cum-performers ...
SYLVIA SCHWENK PROJECT CONCEPT STATEMENT Ground Control is a work of participatory performance art that will be presented in two stages. The first stage will be a live performance that will take place at night-time by everyday-people-cum-performers ...
W3612
13.05.2011
Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) - Divya Mehra
WWW
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
W4403
25.05.2011
Landscape Follies - Eleanna Horiti
WWW
Landscape Follies A series that involves the creation of ‘new’ unnatural imaginary landscapes through a series of actions, such as excavations, exposure of strata and the creation of fake elements using natural materials. ...
Landscape Follies A series that involves the creation of ‘new’ unnatural imaginary landscapes through a series of actions, such as excavations, exposure of strata and the creation of fake elements using natural materials. ...
W4908
13.08.2012
A collateral time. - Annalisa Furnari
WWW
A collateral time. Two videoinstallations: screening of two movies archive reprocessed in postproduction. In relation to each video, two sculptural installations: A base of white cement on where it is deposited a mat black mattress A volcanic mono ...
A collateral time. Two videoinstallations: screening of two movies archive reprocessed in postproduction. In relation to each video, two sculptural installations: A base of white cement on where it is deposited a mat black mattress A volcanic mono ...
W4753
27.05.2011
Jardin Cotonco - Filip Van Dingenen
WWW
JARDIN COTONCO ‘Jardin Cotonco’ is a local recreational park in the Waterwijk district in Ghent- Belgium. It aspires to be a pedagogical garden/green area in the historical centre of the city of Ghent, a laboratory and extension to MIAT (Museum ...
JARDIN COTONCO ‘Jardin Cotonco’ is a local recreational park in the Waterwijk district in Ghent- Belgium. It aspires to be a pedagogical garden/green area in the historical centre of the city of Ghent, a laboratory and extension to MIAT (Museum ...
W4538
25.05.2011
G.R. and M.F. for Le C.C.C.
WWW
Cher A.U.P., nous abordons ces côtes optiques par cette lettre intraduisible pour essayer de décrocher un peu d'argent, ou du moins poursuivre notre existence momentanée par votre lecture profane. Ayant montré un intérêt pour les projets irré ...
Cher A.U.P., nous abordons ces côtes optiques par cette lettre intraduisible pour essayer de décrocher un peu d'argent, ou du moins poursuivre notre existence momentanée par votre lecture profane. Ayant montré un intérêt pour les projets irré ...
W4799
10.11.2011
Test
WWW
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
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 ...
W5127
18.09.2012
Taxonomy of Suspended Ideas - Mariangeles Soto-Diaz
WWW
Taxonomy of Suspended Ideas (Volume 1, 52) by Mariángeles Soto-Díaz (2012) "Taxonomy of Suspended Ideas" is a standalone classification system for ideas whose future will never be. The taxonomy adapts every year to accommodate the exponential growth of ...
Taxonomy of Suspended Ideas (Volume 1, 52) by Mariángeles Soto-Díaz (2012) "Taxonomy of Suspended Ideas" is a standalone classification system for ideas whose future will never be. The taxonomy adapts every year to accommodate the exponential growth of ...
W3732
18.05.2011
POP GOES THE WEASEL - Anne O'Callaghan & Barbara Sternberg
WWW
The following is a brief synopsis of the proposal, POP GOES THE WEASEL, that we submitted for 2011 Nuit Blanche, Toronto, Ontario Canada. This proposal was rejected due to censorship by the local Business Improvement Association (BIA), see emails below** ...
The following is a brief synopsis of the proposal, POP GOES THE WEASEL, that we submitted for 2011 Nuit Blanche, Toronto, Ontario Canada. This proposal was rejected due to censorship by the local Business Improvement Association (BIA), see emails below** ...
W3543
12.05.2011
L'art mis à nu par ses artistes, même... Rifiuto della Creazione / Everything has been done, so why do „everything” ? - Gregor Rozanski
WWW
working title and object(s) as complex game of meanings. this is a meeting of ideas of two rebels form different backgrounds - artist Marcel Duchamp and theoretican and activist Antonio Negri. Negri and Duchamp have one the same opinion that is be ...
working title and object(s) as complex game of meanings. this is a meeting of ideas of two rebels form different backgrounds - artist Marcel Duchamp and theoretican and activist Antonio Negri. Negri and Duchamp have one the same opinion that is be ...
W5402
20.10.2012
AHIMSA  - Tiziana Pers
WWW
The project is composed by a series of photograph, a performance, and an installation that will remain after the action. Ahimsa is an ancient Sanskrit term meaning 'do not harm' (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important tenet of t ...
The project is composed by a series of photograph, a performance, and an installation that will remain after the action. Ahimsa is an ancient Sanskrit term meaning 'do not harm' (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important tenet of t ...
W3682
16.05.2011
Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson
WWW
Two Barges is a proposal for a pair of illuminated signs to be ferried around the island of Manhattan using the Hudson, Harlem and East Rivers.   The signs will be made from panels of tungsten lightbulbs fixed to a supporting metal rig.   The letters wi ...
Two Barges is a proposal for a pair of illuminated signs to be ferried around the island of Manhattan using the Hudson, Harlem and East Rivers.   The signs will be made from panels of tungsten lightbulbs fixed to a supporting metal rig.   The letters wi ...
W4650
25.05.2011
La Fonataine  - silvia pereira
WWW
La Fonataine – Lasershot by Sílvia Pereira    Inside a museum room. A laser machine is mounted in a distance of 4 meters to the outer wall. Every thirty minutes it`s being activated and shoots its laser beam ag ...
La Fonataine – Lasershot by Sílvia Pereira    Inside a museum room. A laser machine is mounted in a distance of 4 meters to the outer wall. Every thirty minutes it`s being activated and shoots its laser beam ag ...
W3484
11.05.2011
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) - Hannes Bend
WWW
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) By Hannes Bend Cenotaph/Golden Mattress (working title), will be a life-size candy cast golden mattress. The sculpture will be left unvarnished, inviting the viewers to lick the vertically standing piece. Pla ...
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) By Hannes Bend Cenotaph/Golden Mattress (working title), will be a life-size candy cast golden mattress. The sculpture will be left unvarnished, inviting the viewers to lick the vertically standing piece. Pla ...
W4249
24.05.2011
Experiment 11 (Scheme for ensuring posterity) - Aylwin Greenwood-Lambert
WWW
Introduction to Experiment 11 (Scheme for ensuring posterity) Experiment 11 was a project based around the idea of attempting to ensure my posterity via the production of time capsules containing evidence that would give those discovering them the impr ...
Introduction to Experiment 11 (Scheme for ensuring posterity) Experiment 11 was a project based around the idea of attempting to ensure my posterity via the production of time capsules containing evidence that would give those discovering them the impr ...
W4309
24.05.2011
“Face2 eyes spin” - dineo seshee bopape
WWW
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
W4746
26.05.2011
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal - Rafael Schmidt, RAFAA
WWW
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
W3906
20.05.2011
Michael Hanna
WWW