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.

Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George

PROJECT FOR A COMMUNITY CENTER, AVENUE DES NARCISSES, CHENOVE - Vito Acconci

Social Resource Project For the Munich Olympics - Stephen Willats

No title, as the project only reached proposal stage - Rikrit Tiravanija

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

Eight Days a Week - Joe Scanlan

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5050
03.09.2012
EMVS - Taller Básico de Arquitectura [TBA]
WWW
EMVS (2011) Two planes We build two thick and porous planes. Between them, there are contained 100 housings. The lobby emerges from the gap between the planes, and it is limited by two stairs. The planes open their porous cavities towards the best s ...
EMVS (2011) Two planes We build two thick and porous planes. Between them, there are contained 100 housings. The lobby emerges from the gap between the planes, and it is limited by two stairs. The planes open their porous cavities towards the best s ...
W4141
23.05.2011
Kisses for Paris - betty tompkins
WWW
Kisses for Paris A number of years ago, I was asked by a French critic visiting my studio, what I would do for a public space project she was thinking of organizing in Paris. I immediately said that I would want to cover Pairs with kisses. What I e ...
Kisses for Paris A number of years ago, I was asked by a French critic visiting my studio, what I would do for a public space project she was thinking of organizing in Paris. I immediately said that I would want to cover Pairs with kisses. What I e ...
W5135
19.09.2012
The 103rd Kilometer - Sasha Tamarin
WWW
The 103rd Kilometer My work is driven by the need to return to my birthplace, in order to analyze the factors that affected my identity development. My childhood memories are built from stories, images and dreams. When I finally get physically to ...
The 103rd Kilometer My work is driven by the need to return to my birthplace, in order to analyze the factors that affected my identity development. My childhood memories are built from stories, images and dreams. When I finally get physically to ...
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. ...
W3882
19.05.2011
Wheatfields - Carlo Marcucci
WWW
Large imaginary sculptures made of pasta strands. These non-existent structures are based on the "Wheatfields" body of work. "Wheatfields" are existent wall-mounted sculptures made of spaghetti and various kinds on noodles applied to wood. "The Gate" ...
Large imaginary sculptures made of pasta strands. These non-existent structures are based on the "Wheatfields" body of work. "Wheatfields" are existent wall-mounted sculptures made of spaghetti and various kinds on noodles applied to wood. "The Gate" ...
U9918
01.01.1994
Eight Days a Week - Joe Scanlan
Unbuilt Roads
In 1994, after several years of studying the history of calendars and their basis in the solar system, I designed a new calendar that was more "in tune" with my personal rhythms. Although it contained the same 365 days, the calendar was divided into 15 In ...
In 1994, after several years of studying the history of calendars and their basis in the solar system, I designed a new calendar that was more "in tune" with my personal rhythms. Although it contained the same 365 days, the calendar was divided into 15 In ...
W5080
06.09.2012
Urban Void 05  - Toornend & Post
WWW
Urban Void 05 (Villa), Am Grossen Wannsee, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 1665×4190 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipod ...
Urban Void 05 (Villa), Am Grossen Wannsee, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 1665×4190 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipod ...
W4285
24.05.2011
Overlords - Tom Estes
WWW
Overlords by Tom Estes Description Overlords was originally conceived as a video installation comprised of images of ‘Time Travel’ projected on to a book called ‘Local History and Antiquities’. The work was deliberately left incomplete. The ph ...
Overlords by Tom Estes Description Overlords was originally conceived as a video installation comprised of images of ‘Time Travel’ projected on to a book called ‘Local History and Antiquities’. The work was deliberately left incomplete. The ph ...
W4058
23.05.2011
Karl Jensen
WWW
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
W4020
22.05.2011
Rural pleasure trip / an investigation of sounds - Gisela Weimann
WWW
Gisela Weimann >www.giselaweimann.de< Since the 80s the focal points of my projects are sound installations and experimental music-theatre productions that include artists and theorists from different fields and national descend. Gisela Weimann ...
Gisela Weimann >www.giselaweimann.de< Since the 80s the focal points of my projects are sound installations and experimental music-theatre productions that include artists and theorists from different fields and national descend. Gisela Weimann ...
W4365
25.05.2011
THE KRACK PROJECT - Travis Wyche
WWW
THE KRACK PROJECT by DI VOZZO S.A.S The < Krack project > is a public art installation ( 220 s.m) which was conceived to compete with the Imperialist system on the production processes of realities. I designed this project so as to mobilize the ...
THE KRACK PROJECT by DI VOZZO S.A.S The < Krack project > is a public art installation ( 220 s.m) which was conceived to compete with the Imperialist system on the production processes of realities. I designed this project so as to mobilize the ...
W4595
25.05.2011
HOLY CORNERS - GABRIELLA DARIS
WWW
Gabriella Daris | HOLY CORNERS | 2010 The artist: The Lonoon based artist Gabriella Daris (Gabriella Tsavdaris) has built an art installation entitled, HOLY CORNERS, which Out Of The Box Intermedia has commissioned, and which is to be presented in the ...
Gabriella Daris | HOLY CORNERS | 2010 The artist: The Lonoon based artist Gabriella Daris (Gabriella Tsavdaris) has built an art installation entitled, HOLY CORNERS, which Out Of The Box Intermedia has commissioned, and which is to be presented in the ...
W5423
20.10.2012
Summerhouse - Tom Hollenback
WWW
Summerhouse ©Tom Hollenback, 2011 (Revised) This proposal is for the construction of a temporary outdoor installation during the winter months at a public park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tentatively titled Summerhouse, I envision the work as a small p ...
Summerhouse ©Tom Hollenback, 2011 (Revised) This proposal is for the construction of a temporary outdoor installation during the winter months at a public park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tentatively titled Summerhouse, I envision the work as a small p ...
U9617
01.07.1991
Project pour le parc de sculpture de Vassiviére - Paul-Armand Gette
Unbuilt Roads
Un bloc de granite choisi dans la partie boisée de l'île sera considéré comme étant le centre d'une circonférence de 25m. de rayon, qui, sans que cela soit indiqué sur place d'aucune façon, restera vierge de toutes interventions (aménagements, co ...
Un bloc de granite choisi dans la partie boisée de l'île sera considéré comme étant le centre d'une circonférence de 25m. de rayon, qui, sans que cela soit indiqué sur place d'aucune façon, restera vierge de toutes interventions (aménagements, co ...
W3997
21.05.2011
Survival is a Crime - Jana Leo De Blas
WWW
S.I.C. "Survival is a Crime" is a picture sequence that draws a trajectory through an apartment building, the staircase, the hallways, the inside of the apartment, the furniture, some objects, a comforter, and inside the inhabitant, a woman. The total ...
S.I.C. "Survival is a Crime" is a picture sequence that draws a trajectory through an apartment building, the staircase, the hallways, the inside of the apartment, the furniture, some objects, a comforter, and inside the inhabitant, a woman. The total ...
W3873
19.05.2011
CHINATOWN RUN - Derek Michael Besant
WWW
Project: CHINATOWN RUN Client: City of Calgary Development Dept. / Canada Date: 2010 Retrofit of elements into existing Centre Street Chinatown District of Calgary Alberta Canada. The idea was to enhance the 3 blocks along Centre Street with t ...
Project: CHINATOWN RUN Client: City of Calgary Development Dept. / Canada Date: 2010 Retrofit of elements into existing Centre Street Chinatown District of Calgary Alberta Canada. The idea was to enhance the 3 blocks along Centre Street with t ...
W4094
23.05.2011
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000008 - Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000008: The gallery wall gets shot with a machine gun. The project almost got realized in 1996 in a gallery in Maastricht. Unfortunately the Dutch Police wouldn't allow the shooting to happen, even without public, and advised the us ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000008: The gallery wall gets shot with a machine gun. The project almost got realized in 1996 in a gallery in Maastricht. Unfortunately the Dutch Police wouldn't allow the shooting to happen, even without public, and advised the us ...
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 ...
W3554
12.05.2011
Filipa Ramos & António Contador
WWW
Lisbon, May 12, 2011 Dear Agency of Unrealized Projects, We have been planning to write you for so long. In fact, it has been more than two years now, since we first felt the urge to share our thoughts with you. But we ended up never doing it until ...
Lisbon, May 12, 2011 Dear Agency of Unrealized Projects, We have been planning to write you for so long. In fact, it has been more than two years now, since we first felt the urge to share our thoughts with you. But we ended up never doing it until ...
W5060
03.09.2012
Indoor swiming pool competition - Rodrigo Lima Arquitecto
WWW
Indoor swiming pool competition. A water surface, running along a curve shaped hangar, ends in a water fall. The water surface contains 4 swimming pools, each one dedicated to a different type of water activity. (Sports or Play) ...
Indoor swiming pool competition. A water surface, running along a curve shaped hangar, ends in a water fall. The water surface contains 4 swimming pools, each one dedicated to a different type of water activity. (Sports or Play) ...
W4922
18.08.2012
sin∞fin – The Logbook and Left Over’s Installation "An Itinerary on the Boarders of our Bodies" - VestAndPage (Verena Stenke & Andrea Pagnes)
WWW
The idea of making a Logbook that digs into the core of the poiesis of VestAndPage’s recently edited movie trilogy sin∞fin - The Movie (hybrid opera combining Performance art and filmmaking), as cornerstone of an exhibition installation of various ori ...
The idea of making a Logbook that digs into the core of the poiesis of VestAndPage’s recently edited movie trilogy sin∞fin - The Movie (hybrid opera combining Performance art and filmmaking), as cornerstone of an exhibition installation of various ori ...
W3807
18.05.2011
The Ethereal Battle - David Normal
WWW
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
W5438
20.10.2012
Smuggling Pomegranate Pavilion (SPP) - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
W5138
21.09.2012
Good Vibrations - Carlo Crovato
WWW
To illuminate the dark space beneath hoch-bahn bridges using Off the Grid techniques. Project title Good Vibrations. there will be moving illumination on underside of U-Bahn bridges as train passes overhead. 1 17 June 2011 Carlo Crovato Berli ...
To illuminate the dark space beneath hoch-bahn bridges using Off the Grid techniques. Project title Good Vibrations. there will be moving illumination on underside of U-Bahn bridges as train passes overhead. 1 17 June 2011 Carlo Crovato Berli ...
U9492
01.01.1996
"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan
Unbuilt Roads
1996 progetto "ilana, I love you" per la galleria Stefano Basilico di New York. Molte persone che conoscono Stefano Basilica per la sua galleria, conoscono anche che Stefano e' stato collaboratore per circa dieci anni alla galleria Sonnabend. Questo ...
1996 progetto "ilana, I love you" per la galleria Stefano Basilico di New York. Molte persone che conoscono Stefano Basilica per la sua galleria, conoscono anche che Stefano e' stato collaboratore per circa dieci anni alla galleria Sonnabend. Questo ...
W4256
24.05.2011
APOTHEOSIS - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
KRISTIN JONES / ANDREW GINZEL APOTHEOSIS, 1994 Proposal for Pier 32, Hudson River, New York City ,Urban Paradise: Gardens in the City, Public Art Fund, Paine Webber Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue) Project Description: We are ch ...
KRISTIN JONES / ANDREW GINZEL APOTHEOSIS, 1994 Proposal for Pier 32, Hudson River, New York City ,Urban Paradise: Gardens in the City, Public Art Fund, Paine Webber Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue) Project Description: We are ch ...