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.

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

Ruderaltisch, 1994/95 Kunst am Bau - Projekt - Lois Weinberger

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

Unrealized Projects - Jonas Meckas

Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer

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

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Sol Lewitt

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

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3834
19.05.2011
Maki Na Kamura
WWW
W5124
18.09.2012
Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid - Michael Arata
WWW
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
W5450
20.10.2012
BUILDING DRAWING III: “NO-PLACE SPACE” - Ann Daly
WWW
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING III: “NO-PLACE SPACE” A house or room, housed elsewhere. A large room or rectangular structure set within another space, so that one can see the outside of it and move into its interior. A more ambit ...
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING III: “NO-PLACE SPACE” A house or room, housed elsewhere. A large room or rectangular structure set within another space, so that one can see the outside of it and move into its interior. A more ambit ...
W4520
25.05.2011
take charge of your life.  - Joan Vicent Marí Domenech
WWW
The unrealized project that I present is called: take charge of your life. These is what I was doing during my studies in fine arts Erasmus in Athens. Knowing myself. Began with a series of banners carried out haphazardly. The two images presen ...
The unrealized project that I present is called: take charge of your life. These is what I was doing during my studies in fine arts Erasmus in Athens. Knowing myself. Began with a series of banners carried out haphazardly. The two images presen ...
W5214
06.10.2012
Pentahedrices - Stephen Da Lay
WWW
Stephen M. Da Lay has met the requirements for the Marjorie Schiele Prize. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1989, and his work has been shown nationally and internationally. Stephen’s work has been exhibited at 2nd Penang I ...
Stephen M. Da Lay has met the requirements for the Marjorie Schiele Prize. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1989, and his work has been shown nationally and internationally. Stephen’s work has been exhibited at 2nd Penang I ...
W5453
20.10.2012
ñaña - Pablo David Rojas Mencias
WWW
Pablo David Rojas Mencias Kohlfurterstrasse 1, Berlin 10999 dadafoto@gmail.com Project Name: “ñaña” This project couldn’t be finished due to the fact that “ñaña” has passed away. In the native american language, quechua, “ñaña ...
Pablo David Rojas Mencias Kohlfurterstrasse 1, Berlin 10999 dadafoto@gmail.com Project Name: “ñaña” This project couldn’t be finished due to the fact that “ñaña” has passed away. In the native american language, quechua, “ñaña ...
W10936
22.06.2015
THORAX - Marion Inglessi
WWW
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
W4495
25.05.2011
The Crystal Pavilion - Walker and Walker
WWW
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
W5345
18.10.2012
Lisa Bateman
WWW
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
W3877
19.05.2011
Sound Of Trains - Derek Michael Besant
WWW
sound of underground train from another city as audio integration downtown in Canadian city Client: City of Calgary Development Dept. / Canada Date: 2002 Audio art integration into minor city pedestrian sidewalk downtown Calgary Alberta Canada. T ...
sound of underground train from another city as audio integration downtown in Canadian city Client: City of Calgary Development Dept. / Canada Date: 2002 Audio art integration into minor city pedestrian sidewalk downtown Calgary Alberta Canada. T ...
W4500
25.05.2011
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' - Baiju Parthan
WWW
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' An unrealized project from 2008 Conceived in March 2008, this is a partly realized project, which I was not able to realize in its full potential due to various practical constraints. From lack of funding, to not having t ...
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' An unrealized project from 2008 Conceived in March 2008, this is a partly realized project, which I was not able to realize in its full potential due to various practical constraints. From lack of funding, to not having t ...
W4156
23.05.2011
Craig Havens
WWW
From August 2009 to January 2010, I employed the spirit of Elvis Presely as the PR Director of a Limited Liability Company which I created to represent my groin to those people who were no longer welcome in my life. ...
From August 2009 to January 2010, I employed the spirit of Elvis Presely as the PR Director of a Limited Liability Company which I created to represent my groin to those people who were no longer welcome in my life. ...
W4777
02.06.2011
No Success like Failure - Daniel Permanetter
WWW
NO SUCCESS LIKE FAILURE “She knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all.” (Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero/ No Limit” 1965) The work consists of two parts. One is a scaffolding construction holding approximately ...
NO SUCCESS LIKE FAILURE “She knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all.” (Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero/ No Limit” 1965) The work consists of two parts. One is a scaffolding construction holding approximately ...
W3810
18.05.2011
Convention - David K. Ross
WWW
Convention' was an unsolicited, and as I found out in March of this year, unaccepted proposal to the promoters of the Toronto International Art Fair. ...
Convention' was an unsolicited, and as I found out in March of this year, unaccepted proposal to the promoters of the Toronto International Art Fair. ...
W3584
13.05.2011
Proposal to an open call for the 2011 Emdash Award - Boris Dornbusch
WWW
The following project was a proposal to an open call for the 2011 Emdash Award. However, it is an idea I have developed in response to any Art Fair: A smaller-scale replica of the Frieze's exhibition tent is pitched in the exhibition pavilion. ...
The following project was a proposal to an open call for the 2011 Emdash Award. However, it is an idea I have developed in response to any Art Fair: A smaller-scale replica of the Frieze's exhibition tent is pitched in the exhibition pavilion. ...
W3529
11.05.2011
Babylon Dictionary – A spoken sounds Dictionary - Nitsan David Hamerman
WWW
Babylon Dictionary – A spoken sounds Dictionary The work “Babylon Dictionary” engages in locating areas of misunderstanding between languages. Not like any other dictionary, Babylon Dictionary mach between two (or more) different meaning of the s ...
Babylon Dictionary – A spoken sounds Dictionary The work “Babylon Dictionary” engages in locating areas of misunderstanding between languages. Not like any other dictionary, Babylon Dictionary mach between two (or more) different meaning of the s ...
W5235
09.10.2012
Two Years’ Untouched Garden  - WOOLOO
WWW
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
W4101
23.05.2011
« CREPUSCULE MATINALE »  - RAFFAELLA DELLA OLGA
WWW
« Crepuscule Matinale - homage to Erik Satie » is a project where the ventilation ducts of the Georges Pompidou Centre forecourt receive a makeover and put on an act of playing Furniture Music, the brain child of Erik Satie between 1917 and 1923. By eq ...
« Crepuscule Matinale - homage to Erik Satie » is a project where the ventilation ducts of the Georges Pompidou Centre forecourt receive a makeover and put on an act of playing Furniture Music, the brain child of Erik Satie between 1917 and 1923. By eq ...
W4230
24.05.2011
Monument for bridges. - Dico Kruijsse
WWW
Monument for bridges. Visuals of a monumental sculpture to be made out of the remains of two countryside bridges. A road of about 20 kilometres long was rebuild. Therefore as much as 50 bridges accessing the farmlands where taken apart and demolished. ...
Monument for bridges. Visuals of a monumental sculpture to be made out of the remains of two countryside bridges. A road of about 20 kilometres long was rebuild. Therefore as much as 50 bridges accessing the farmlands where taken apart and demolished. ...
U9701
01.01.1994
Festival du film de famille - Pierre Huyghe
Unbuilt Roads
Le Festival du film de famille est un événement qui séted sur 3 jours, c'est le pant de dipart d'une dénie partagée qui peut se répéter sur plusieurs [arnisé?]. Une communanté affactive [illisible] son [basan?] d'histories par sa propre producti ...
Le Festival du film de famille est un événement qui séted sur 3 jours, c'est le pant de dipart d'une dénie partagée qui peut se répéter sur plusieurs [arnisé?]. Une communanté affactive [illisible] son [basan?] d'histories par sa propre producti ...
W3632
14.05.2011
(model for) REMOTE CONTROLLED STARS or HOW TO CHANGE YOUR DESTINY - Mary Sherman
WWW
Once someone came up to the oh-so dandy J. McNeil Whistler and exclaimed that they were both from Lowell and just a year apart – he was 68; Whistler, 67. To which Whistler replied - for all to hear, of course - “Very charming! And so you are 68 and we ...
Once someone came up to the oh-so dandy J. McNeil Whistler and exclaimed that they were both from Lowell and just a year apart – he was 68; Whistler, 67. To which Whistler replied - for all to hear, of course - “Very charming! And so you are 68 and we ...
W10263
18.06.2014
Blue Spiral - Miklos Legrady
WWW
An urban transformation painting the smokestacks of downtown Toronto. ...
An urban transformation painting the smokestacks of downtown Toronto. ...
W3885
19.05.2011
THE 
CHILHOOD
 OF
 AN 
ENCOUNTER
 - Martin Llavaneras
WWW
At a dinner I met R.M, aged 56 millionaire. We had a conversation. The same night, we entertained the idea of making a project together: ¨...what would happen if you were hanging from a cliff by a rope, and the rope is cut ?... ...
At a dinner I met R.M, aged 56 millionaire. We had a conversation. The same night, we entertained the idea of making a project together: ¨...what would happen if you were hanging from a cliff by a rope, and the rope is cut ?... ...
W4689
26.05.2011
UNSOLICITED - Laszlo Marsch
WWW
UNSOLICITED Dear H.U.O. and G.T., I own a copy of "Unbuild Roads". It is exciting that "residuals" and "failures" see the daylight. Going through the book and reading the intro it is obvious that most of the projects, even if unrealized, were based on c ...
UNSOLICITED Dear H.U.O. and G.T., I own a copy of "Unbuild Roads". It is exciting that "residuals" and "failures" see the daylight. Going through the book and reading the intro it is obvious that most of the projects, even if unrealized, were based on c ...
W5338
18.10.2012
Hanínga Thiel
WWW
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
W5274
15.10.2012
Regret - Francesca Arri
WWW
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...