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.

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

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

The World Record - General Idea

Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

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

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

d'un projet dédié aux victimes de la Shoah. - Christian Boltanski

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3590
13.05.2011
IN-OUTDOOR PROJECT - Helena Trindade
WWW
Unrealized Public Art Project For images and text please refer to the PDF ...
Unrealized Public Art Project For images and text please refer to the PDF ...
D10802
01.01.1995
The museum as sleeping quarters for a man of the street - Danilo Duenas
DAAD
Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagin ...
Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagin ...
W5489
26.10.2012
The Greatest Show on Earth is Leaving - Sascha Pohflepp
WWW
The Greatest Show on Earth is Leaving 3000 helium-filled balloons are held in place form the column-like vertical plume that resembles the one found just after the launch of a space rocket. After being released, the column dissipates under the influenc ...
The Greatest Show on Earth is Leaving 3000 helium-filled balloons are held in place form the column-like vertical plume that resembles the one found just after the launch of a space rocket. After being released, the column dissipates under the influenc ...
W3687
16.05.2011
Pet Food - Alexandra McGlynn
WWW
In most Western countries there is a taboo concerning the eating of animals regarded as 'pets' for example - horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles, large insects etcetera that does not exist in Asia or other parts of the world. In C ...
In most Western countries there is a taboo concerning the eating of animals regarded as 'pets' for example - horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles, large insects etcetera that does not exist in Asia or other parts of the world. In C ...
W3621
14.05.2011
The 3 Muses of West Hollywood - Phil Tarley
WWW
Public Art For Street Installation in the City of West Hollywood, California ARTIST’S STATEMENT: THE 3 MUSES OF WEST HOLLYWOOD Who are we, the people of West Hollywood? Where do we come from? What do we do? As we live out our lives here ...
Public Art For Street Installation in the City of West Hollywood, California ARTIST’S STATEMENT: THE 3 MUSES OF WEST HOLLYWOOD Who are we, the people of West Hollywood? Where do we come from? What do we do? As we live out our lives here ...
W3985
21.05.2011
Pisco Ruivo
WWW
Pisco Ruivo is a group of creative researchers founded by Eduardo Leitão & Joana Pinho Neves. We embrace book as the primarily subject of our work. We use it has support for the creation and recreation of covers and we search in its words new narratives. ...
Pisco Ruivo is a group of creative researchers founded by Eduardo Leitão & Joana Pinho Neves. We embrace book as the primarily subject of our work. We use it has support for the creation and recreation of covers and we search in its words new narratives. ...
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 ...
W3565
12.05.2011
Liquid Door (smoking underwater), 2010 - Isola and Norzi
WWW
Jacques Cousteau’s lifelong dream of living beneath the sea set artists Hilario Isola and Matteo Norzi to thinking about artworks as relics of the future. [this text was first commissioned to Isola and Norzi and published by ABITARE, (issue 501, A ...
Jacques Cousteau’s lifelong dream of living beneath the sea set artists Hilario Isola and Matteo Norzi to thinking about artworks as relics of the future. [this text was first commissioned to Isola and Norzi and published by ABITARE, (issue 501, A ...
U9497
07.04.1997
Jake and Dinos Chapman's five proposals for an empty plinth situated on central londons trafalgar square - Jake and Dinos Chapman
Unbuilt Roads
commissioned by liberal daily broadsheet newspaper ironically suggesting the most unsuitable artists possible to produce the most unsuitable public sculpture never to be realized: ha ha ha, very funny we suggest one of the following: project 'Hawki ...
commissioned by liberal daily broadsheet newspaper ironically suggesting the most unsuitable artists possible to produce the most unsuitable public sculpture never to be realized: ha ha ha, very funny we suggest one of the following: project 'Hawki ...
W4284
24.05.2011
Mr. Imagination’s Arch of Unity - Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack)
WWW
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) Mr. Imagination’s Arch of Unity Proposal for Vision and Vernacular Eight African American Artists in Venice Presented by American Folk Art Museum at Fondaco dei Tedeschi, June 2011 Artist Statement The su ...
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack) Mr. Imagination’s Arch of Unity Proposal for Vision and Vernacular Eight African American Artists in Venice Presented by American Folk Art Museum at Fondaco dei Tedeschi, June 2011 Artist Statement The su ...
W4037
22.05.2011
Lynn Carlson
WWW
An Installation, on site, composed of baskets and crates on waist high tables offering musical instruments while supermarket music wafts through the space. An art project is full of possibilities. For the artist, it may mean expanding on a theme. F ...
An Installation, on site, composed of baskets and crates on waist high tables offering musical instruments while supermarket music wafts through the space. An art project is full of possibilities. For the artist, it may mean expanding on a theme. F ...
W4134
23.05.2011
The Order of Reflections - Jerzy Olek
WWW
Jerzy Olek The Order of Reflections In former centuries in order to transpose a view onto a piece of paper draughtsmen used a frames screen divided into square sections. They observed the view through their perspective machine, and built their pictu ...
Jerzy Olek The Order of Reflections In former centuries in order to transpose a view onto a piece of paper draughtsmen used a frames screen divided into square sections. They observed the view through their perspective machine, and built their pictu ...
W3692
16.05.2011
The Rings - Alastair Noble & Kathy Bruce
WWW
Alastair Noble & Kathy Bruce 2010 Project Title - The Rings – Intent: To create an iconic and poetic symbol that will represent Lancaster, The Poetry Paths Project and the history, culture and diverse peoples of Lancaster. Summary: A sculpture ...
Alastair Noble & Kathy Bruce 2010 Project Title - The Rings – Intent: To create an iconic and poetic symbol that will represent Lancaster, The Poetry Paths Project and the history, culture and diverse peoples of Lancaster. Summary: A sculpture ...
W10725
25.09.2014
free night - xiaoyun mao
WWW
The infrastructure space is the node of moving path. It functions to connect different places and keep people moving tot her their destination. Within the density of the city, the infrastructure is unavoidably packed of people. The individual can't stop o ...
The infrastructure space is the node of moving path. It functions to connect different places and keep people moving tot her their destination. Within the density of the city, the infrastructure is unavoidably packed of people. The individual can't stop o ...
W4162
23.05.2011
Claire Ferguson
WWW
a man catches a glimpse of a woman. he thinks of her for a few seconds and then doesn’t. she is just someone he has seen. some time later, he sees her again. this time for longer. only for a few seconds longer. he thinks about her for longer. at first, ...
a man catches a glimpse of a woman. he thinks of her for a few seconds and then doesn’t. she is just someone he has seen. some time later, he sees her again. this time for longer. only for a few seconds longer. he thinks about her for longer. at first, ...
W4658
25.05.2011
THE UNINVITED GUEST? - ELENA BAJO
WWW
THE UNINVITED GUEST? A Contrapunctual Proposal Dear Elena, Given the double or complementary nature and development of your entire project—as a book and as an exhibition—I’m assuming that the space you are referring to is understood not only ...
THE UNINVITED GUEST? A Contrapunctual Proposal Dear Elena, Given the double or complementary nature and development of your entire project—as a book and as an exhibition—I’m assuming that the space you are referring to is understood not only ...
W3749
18.05.2011
THE FRIEZE ART FAIR! - Matthew Shannon
WWW
This project, a comic book, was one of the 5 finalists for the 2011 Frieze Art Fair EMDASH award. Written Treatment. The proposed work is an amplification of the fair and its potential meanings across different levels of reality. The epileptic segue o ...
This project, a comic book, was one of the 5 finalists for the 2011 Frieze Art Fair EMDASH award. Written Treatment. The proposed work is an amplification of the fair and its potential meanings across different levels of reality. The epileptic segue o ...
W3939
20.05.2011
R. Marcos Mota
WWW
DESCRIPTION The project consists of built inside the Civic Centre Sant Andreu a toilet for the disabled who do not meet standards of accessibility measures.

 It will build a separate room of existing toilets within the Civic Center that the dynamics ...
DESCRIPTION The project consists of built inside the Civic Centre Sant Andreu a toilet for the disabled who do not meet standards of accessibility measures.

 It will build a separate room of existing toilets within the Civic Center that the dynamics ...
W4180
24.05.2011
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) - Legge Lewis Legge
WWW
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) is a public art and architecture studio based in New York and Texas operated by architect Murray Legge AIA and filmmaker Deborah E. Lewis, both in Austin, and artist Andrea Legge in New York City. Since 2001, LLL has produced a wi ...
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) is a public art and architecture studio based in New York and Texas operated by architect Murray Legge AIA and filmmaker Deborah E. Lewis, both in Austin, and artist Andrea Legge in New York City. Since 2001, LLL has produced a wi ...
W5443
20.10.2012
The beauty of Your Desintegrated Details - Marco Tavolaro
WWW
Project description in one sentence. “The beauty of Your Desintegrated Details” is a mapping projection based installation made with canvas, projectors and animation. WHAT - What is the Project about specifically? The project deals with perceptio ...
Project description in one sentence. “The beauty of Your Desintegrated Details” is a mapping projection based installation made with canvas, projectors and animation. WHAT - What is the Project about specifically? The project deals with perceptio ...
W4628
25.05.2011
The Hackney Flyover - David Cotterrell
WWW
The Hackney Flyover Driving London Forward In 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) received a long-awaited feasibility study from their cost-consultants, Turner and Townsend Group. While the Olympic site development cost projections were consider ...
The Hackney Flyover Driving London Forward In 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) received a long-awaited feasibility study from their cost-consultants, Turner and Townsend Group. While the Olympic site development cost projections were consider ...
W5053
03.09.2012
Parish in Buztintxuri  - Taller Basico de Arquitectura [TBA]
WWW
Parish in Buztintxuri (2011) The building is principally developed on the ground floor. Functional issues make necessary to emerge a second level in the central area. This space contains technical spaces. The building is functionally differentiated ...
Parish in Buztintxuri (2011) The building is principally developed on the ground floor. Functional issues make necessary to emerge a second level in the central area. This space contains technical spaces. The building is functionally differentiated ...
W4754
27.05.2011
Billboard - Oona Stern
WWW
Using the technique of banner advertising ubiquitous throughout the city, a scaffolding bridgeway in lower Manhattan would be wallpapered with an image of architectural material. Reclaiming architectural surfaces from the pervasion of advertising, "billbo ...
Using the technique of banner advertising ubiquitous throughout the city, a scaffolding bridgeway in lower Manhattan would be wallpapered with an image of architectural material. Reclaiming architectural surfaces from the pervasion of advertising, "billbo ...
W5310
17.10.2012
NaoKo TakaHashi
WWW
This project is to dress the entire serpentine Gallery in circus tents and invite visitors to be hypnotised to experience a false memory. ...
This project is to dress the entire serpentine Gallery in circus tents and invite visitors to be hypnotised to experience a false memory. ...
W3704
17.05.2011
Making Aliyah - Nathaniel Katz and Valentina Curandi
WWW
We are proposing to immigrate to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia. The concept of this proposal derives from the implied duty of Jews in diaspora to immigrate, make “Aliyah” to the State of Israel. (Literally “Aliyah” means ascension. To mak ...
We are proposing to immigrate to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia. The concept of this proposal derives from the implied duty of Jews in diaspora to immigrate, make “Aliyah” to the State of Israel. (Literally “Aliyah” means ascension. To mak ...
U9764
01.01.1974
Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas
Unbuilt Roads
Color/16m.m - 50 minutes/£800 JUST BEFORE DAWN by Davd Lamelas The project is basically an analysis of the elements by which narative primarily works on Film Narrative conventions. There is already something that we understand as "comme ...
Color/16m.m - 50 minutes/£800 JUST BEFORE DAWN by Davd Lamelas The project is basically an analysis of the elements by which narative primarily works on Film Narrative conventions. There is already something that we understand as "comme ...