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.

Monumento all'agricoltura 1969-70 - Alighiero Boetti

Battery Park City - Per Kirkeby

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

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Monument to Democracy - Kounellis

Temple of the western buddha (1971 Kathmedu) - Herman de Vries

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

The insurer - Fabrice Hybert

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
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 ...
W5016
30.08.2012
TOTEM WAR - WHEN ARCHITECTURE BECOMES RIVAL CLANS’ BATTLEFIELD - Martial MARQUET
WWW
TOTEM WAR - WHEN ARCHITECTURE BECOMES RIVAL CLANS’ BATTLEFIELD autors : Louisa Gouesnard, Martial Marquet, Nicolas Polaert. date : Jan 2011 Place : Sliznevo, RUSSIA. Dimensions : variables Materials : Wood/Steel What is happening in Sliznevo ? ...
TOTEM WAR - WHEN ARCHITECTURE BECOMES RIVAL CLANS’ BATTLEFIELD autors : Louisa Gouesnard, Martial Marquet, Nicolas Polaert. date : Jan 2011 Place : Sliznevo, RUSSIA. Dimensions : variables Materials : Wood/Steel What is happening in Sliznevo ? ...
W4662
25.05.2011
The Wardenclyffe Gift  - Craig Leonard
WWW
The Wardenclyffe Gift Craig Leonard In November 2009, the bronze plaque donated by the Yugoslavian Government on July 10, 1976 for the commemoration of the Wardenclyffe communication tower, Nikola Tesla's last remaining laboratory building, was sto ...
The Wardenclyffe Gift Craig Leonard In November 2009, the bronze plaque donated by the Yugoslavian Government on July 10, 1976 for the commemoration of the Wardenclyffe communication tower, Nikola Tesla's last remaining laboratory building, was sto ...
U9282
22.11.1992
Proposal for a permanent video installation for the NYC headquarters of Sony Corporation - Dara Birnbaum
Unbuilt Roads
INSTALLATION DESCRIPTION: At one end of the proposed installation space (main dining area designated for Sony employees), a wall is used to support a video wall or projection screen, which displays a seam-less flow of large-scale images. These large-s ...
INSTALLATION DESCRIPTION: At one end of the proposed installation space (main dining area designated for Sony employees), a wall is used to support a video wall or projection screen, which displays a seam-less flow of large-scale images. These large-s ...
U9628
19.11.1969
Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George
Unbuilt Roads
Memo to: Director From: Richard Christmas Crib sculpture by Gilbert and George Gilbert and George have asked if, despite our discouraging reply about their recent proposal to present a sculpture for one evening, I will present to you personally the ...
Memo to: Director From: Richard Christmas Crib sculpture by Gilbert and George Gilbert and George have asked if, despite our discouraging reply about their recent proposal to present a sculpture for one evening, I will present to you personally the ...
W5030
31.08.2012
Spectral Horse - Mags Harries & Lajos Heder
WWW
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
W5137
20.09.2012
Lolita Lebron - Llaima Sanfiorenzo
WWW
LOLITA (Erste Fassung) Regie und Idee Llaima Suwani Inhaltsangaben Llaima Suwani und Eyerí Cruz Drehbuch Eyerí Cruz Innen Betriebshalle einer Näherei – Vormittags Eine mit industriellen Nähmaschinen vollgestellte grosse Halle, wo viele uniformierte ...
LOLITA (Erste Fassung) Regie und Idee Llaima Suwani Inhaltsangaben Llaima Suwani und Eyerí Cruz Drehbuch Eyerí Cruz Innen Betriebshalle einer Näherei – Vormittags Eine mit industriellen Nähmaschinen vollgestellte grosse Halle, wo viele uniformierte ...
W5409
20.10.2012
Sharon Bareket
WWW
A series of photographic works made during 2012 by photographer Sharon Bareket, dealing with the invasion of a military dimension into the civilian, private dimension. The images evoke themes that are local and universal at the same time, and depict a ...
A series of photographic works made during 2012 by photographer Sharon Bareket, dealing with the invasion of a military dimension into the civilian, private dimension. The images evoke themes that are local and universal at the same time, and depict a ...
W4299
24.05.2011
Polished Concrete (the dissolution of the work into its reflected conditions) - Ian Skedd
WWW
Polished Concrete (the dissolution of the work into its reflected conditions) • Prior to the opening of an exhibition, the concrete floor of a gallery space will be treated with a chemical densifier and sanded with progressively finer grinding tool ...
Polished Concrete (the dissolution of the work into its reflected conditions) • Prior to the opening of an exhibition, the concrete floor of a gallery space will be treated with a chemical densifier and sanded with progressively finer grinding tool ...
W5175
26.09.2012
Action Office III - Geissler Sann
WWW
Action Office III The first cubicles were designed in 1967 by Robert Propst. The purpose was to give the workers more privacy, to isolate them from sights and noises of an open workspace. Probst consulted for his research mathematicians, behavioral psych ...
Action Office III The first cubicles were designed in 1967 by Robert Propst. The purpose was to give the workers more privacy, to isolate them from sights and noises of an open workspace. Probst consulted for his research mathematicians, behavioral psych ...
W5368
19.10.2012
World Trade Center Memorial Proposal - Stephen Canneto
WWW
The design honors and celebrates the lives of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The figurative road to healing begins with a literal journey, with the soaring zenith of the Memorial Spire catching the eye of newly arriving visitors, ...
The design honors and celebrates the lives of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The figurative road to healing begins with a literal journey, with the soaring zenith of the Memorial Spire catching the eye of newly arriving visitors, ...
W3986
21.05.2011
EMOTIONAL SPACE - sculptor PhD, Aili Vahtrapuu, disainer Janika Vesberg
WWW
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
D10808
01.01.2003
The House of Language - Bethan Huws
DAAD
To print this phrase on a relatively large number of (bird) nest boxes – the German concrete cylinder type which are not analogous to human houses, unlike their French and British counterparts – and then to install these in an area of a forest that do ...
To print this phrase on a relatively large number of (bird) nest boxes – the German concrete cylinder type which are not analogous to human houses, unlike their French and British counterparts – and then to install these in an area of a forest that do ...
W3837
19.05.2011
Where are the California Rolls from? - Maki Na Kamura
WWW
To exhibit art works which revision the Japonisume. The title of the show is "Where are the California Rolls from"? My idea is the exploration of a non-literal and ahistorical portrayal of landscape, which has been presumed as most unspectaclar genre o ...
To exhibit art works which revision the Japonisume. The title of the show is "Where are the California Rolls from"? My idea is the exploration of a non-literal and ahistorical portrayal of landscape, which has been presumed as most unspectaclar genre o ...
W5293
16.10.2012
Santes Tudful  - Andrew Leicester
WWW
Santes Tudful (Saint Tudful) Landmark for Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, UK Santes Tudful is an embodiment of her place-name Merthy Tydfil overlooking a major highway on the Anglos/Welsh border. Rahter than being remembered and sanctified because of her tragic ...
Santes Tudful (Saint Tudful) Landmark for Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, UK Santes Tudful is an embodiment of her place-name Merthy Tydfil overlooking a major highway on the Anglos/Welsh border. Rahter than being remembered and sanctified because of her tragic ...
W4598
25.05.2011
Fitting Through A Hole - Michael Arata
WWW
Fitting Through A Hole The work allows the viewer to interpret the larger form as penetrating the hole in the lid of a five gallon paint bucket or alternately being secreted into the bucket. Michael Arata, 2004 ...
Fitting Through A Hole The work allows the viewer to interpret the larger form as penetrating the hole in the lid of a five gallon paint bucket or alternately being secreted into the bucket. Michael Arata, 2004 ...
W5086
09.09.2012
Underwater Forest - Hans Feyerabend
WWW
Underwater Forest Suspended sculpture for Palmetto Bay Village Hall, Florida Underwater Forest is a large sculptural installation suspended from a 30’ ceiling, measuring 18’ in diameter. Its formal language derived from amorphous maritime life. Th ...
Underwater Forest Suspended sculpture for Palmetto Bay Village Hall, Florida Underwater Forest is a large sculptural installation suspended from a 30’ ceiling, measuring 18’ in diameter. Its formal language derived from amorphous maritime life. Th ...
W4911
14.08.2012
Curricula vitae - Joseph Redwood-Martinez
WWW
Curricula vitae Elective ethnic studies programs throughout the state of Arizona have been under intense scrutiny since 2010, when Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2281 into law, forbidding public or charter schools from offering at any grade level course ...
Curricula vitae Elective ethnic studies programs throughout the state of Arizona have been under intense scrutiny since 2010, when Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2281 into law, forbidding public or charter schools from offering at any grade level course ...
W4357
25.05.2011
Dead Links In The Weak Universalism - Kevin Day
WWW
Kevin Day Dead Links In The Weak Universalism, Boris Groys, expanding on Agamben‟s „messianic knowledge,‟ argues that time, with the exacerbation of technological progress, has been increasingly contracting, shrinking to microscopic intervals.1 ...
Kevin Day Dead Links In The Weak Universalism, Boris Groys, expanding on Agamben‟s „messianic knowledge,‟ argues that time, with the exacerbation of technological progress, has been increasingly contracting, shrinking to microscopic intervals.1 ...
W4993
29.08.2012
Stereo-Monocal - Marc Serra Roca
WWW
Stereo-Monocal live set deconstructs a digital audio mixer in an analogical, live and experiential medium. Both audio channels are represented by two streets running along a canal in Amsterdam, now morphed into audio gangways, as if they were part of a ...
Stereo-Monocal live set deconstructs a digital audio mixer in an analogical, live and experiential medium. Both audio channels are represented by two streets running along a canal in Amsterdam, now morphed into audio gangways, as if they were part of a ...
W3720
17.05.2011
M6 EXAM: Exhibition/Residency as A School - Sylvain Breton
WWW
Event Description - M6 EXAM: Exhibition/Residency as A School Examen M6 propose un retour à l'école d'art. Par son concept de résidence/exposition d'un mois, les artistes sont invités à une table ronde avec l'Estonie sur le thème d'une esth ...
Event Description - M6 EXAM: Exhibition/Residency as A School Examen M6 propose un retour à l'école d'art. Par son concept de résidence/exposition d'un mois, les artistes sont invités à une table ronde avec l'Estonie sur le thème d'une esth ...
W5094
11.09.2012
Circulatory System  - Chloë Bass
WWW
Chloë Bass CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CIRCULATORY SYSTEM is an unrealized performance project that was never completed due to my partner’s concern for my health. In general, I am able to move forward with my work regardless of outside concern, but in this ...
Chloë Bass CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CIRCULATORY SYSTEM is an unrealized performance project that was never completed due to my partner’s concern for my health. In general, I am able to move forward with my work regardless of outside concern, but in this ...
W4164
23.05.2011
Judith Sönnicken
WWW
my unrealizeable artwork is the image of my nose turning into a balcony and my brain coming out to have a cigarette. the point of visualizing it would be to put it in front of the eyes, but in fact that image is taking place behind. ...
my unrealizeable artwork is the image of my nose turning into a balcony and my brain coming out to have a cigarette. the point of visualizing it would be to put it in front of the eyes, but in fact that image is taking place behind. ...
W5754
21.05.2013
Like birds on the water - Laura Carthew
WWW
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
W4745
26.05.2011
Solar City Tower for Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics - Rafael Schmidt, RAFAA
WWW
International Architecture Competition for the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. „The project under consideration should be located in the bay of the city of Rio de Janeiro on the Cotonduba Island, which is the obligatory approach for aircraft la ...
International Architecture Competition for the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. „The project under consideration should be located in the bay of the city of Rio de Janeiro on the Cotonduba Island, which is the obligatory approach for aircraft la ...
W4105
23.05.2011
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards     - Håvard Pedersen
WWW
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards were to be a series of abstract artwork, both site specific work and as individual sculptures, based on the theory of Dazzle Camouflage. The camouflage, credited to the English painter Norman Wilkinson, where first used during ...
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards were to be a series of abstract artwork, both site specific work and as individual sculptures, based on the theory of Dazzle Camouflage. The camouflage, credited to the English painter Norman Wilkinson, where first used during ...