Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian at ArtCenter – October 16-18, 2025
We are delighted to present a three-day event with multidisciplinary designer and cultural activist Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian (PhD, she/they) as part of the Toyota Endowed Speaker Series 2025 at ArtCenter’s Hillside Campus. Join us for an immersive exploration of how design, culture and outer‐space converge in visionary and experimental practices.
📍 Location: Ahmanson Auditorium, ArtCenter College of Design, Hillside Campus, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena, CA 91103.
Thursday, October 16
– 10 a.m. –1 p.m. – Studio Visits (ArtCenter students only)
– 6:30 p.m. – “Thinking in Action: An Open Conversation on Radical Imagination and Experimental Practices” (Open to the public)
In this session Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian shares behind-the-scenes stories of her creative journey—from student experiments to collaborations with NASA, the United Nations, BMW, IKEA, LEGO, and more. She reflects on challenging the status quo, sustaining an experimental practice with accessibility at its core, and how queer thinking, plurality and collective public events can ignite unexpected futures.
Friday, October 17
– Noon – 3 p.m. – Room 230, Building 950 – “Extraterrestrial Landscapes and Astrobotany” workshop (ArtCenter students only)
In this workshop Nelly explores how plants, culture and design can shape visions for outer-space environments and collective futures.
Saturday, October 18
– 6:00 p.m. – Ahmanson Auditorium – Screening of Doppelgängers³, with special guests and Q&A (Open to the public)
Presented by Frameline Distribution, Nelly’s latest film explores themes of identity, space and the other.
