Desmond DeLanty has a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a Master of Architecture and a PhD dissertation from the China Academy of Art (CAA). Throughout his career, he has worked and studied at architecture and design firms in throughout the United States, Japan, Italy, and China.

After working in Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu’s Amateur Architecture Studio for a number of years, Desmond founded his own architecture and design practice in Hangzhou, China, focused on rural revitalization projects and the intersection between academic and professional practice. He developed an internationally recognized Design-Build program with sites throughout Zhejiang Province that brought together students, faculty, artisans, and local communities to reimagine the contemporary countryside through human-based design and physical constructions. In 2020, he returned to New York where he cofounded EcoDepot, a Design-Build-Research firm dedicated to sustainable building solutions.