Benjamin Monette, ASLA, PLA

Bio

Ben Monette is the Founder and President of Mud, an award-winning landscape architecture firm based in Raleigh NC.  His career has focused primarily on high-profile public projects of various scales, where he has had the opportunity to work with many world-renowned planners, architects, and artists. He began his career as a greenway designer before focusing on the broader practice of landscape architecture. Working for some of the world’s most renowned landscape architecture practices, he has led intense site-scale urban design efforts and city-scale green infrastructure planning. As a landscape architect and educator, he is known for his innovative design solutions and dedication to creating welcoming, attractive, and functional spaces.

Some of Ben’s most notable projects include the Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina. His work is characterized by its sensitivity to context, innovative use of sustainable materials, and emphasis on delivering design solutions that blend local ecology and culture within a broader global lexicon.

In addition to his professional practice, Ben is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture at NC State and has lectured and taught at Temple University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson University.  He has been inspired by community outreach and extension while attending graduate school at NC State, where he seeks opportunities to build and expand that University’s land-grant mission.  Through his teaching, he encourages students to build logical and reasoned narratives, embrace the intuitive, and approach design challenges with both confidence and humility.

Ben holds fast to the belief that beyond the trappings of tastefully appointed finishes, appropriately balanced soil, and well-grown nursery-grade plant stock, what makes a place special is the wonder found in the poetry of place.  This expository landscape discourse should at once tell a story while permitting yours to be lived.