David E. Sellers

David E. Sellers (born David Edward Sellers, September 7, 1938) is an American architect based in Vermont known for using an improvisational approach to modern architecture which eventually led to what is known as design/build.

His work focuses on designing and building with nature, with special emphasis on custom craftsmanship and a preference for sustainability. His work in town and community planning has received national recognition for pedestrian and human-scaled settlement patterns.

Sellers received his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1960. He received his Masters in Architecture at the Yale School of Architecture in 1965, studying under dean Paul Rudolph, and noted architects James Stirling, Shadrach Woods and Henning Larsen, and Robert Engman (at the Yale School of Art who was a student of Josef Albers). Also an influence was Louis Kahn who served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957. The Yale Building Project was initiated during his graduate studies. "The design-build culture was largely initiated by two members of the class of 1965, David E. Sellers and Peter Gluck. The two friends helped one another on building projects, one for Sellers' brother, and one for Gluck's parents. In 1963, Sellers and Gluck built a vacation house for Gluck's parents in Westhampton, New York. A cedar-clad house which was supported on telephone poles took two summers to build and was featured in a 1967 article in Progressive Architecture which described the young Sellers as "plunging headlong into architecture—designing, building and developing."

Shortly after Yale, Sellers and his friend, William Reineke purchased a piece of land near Warren, Vermont, known by the name Prickly Mountain, while Peter Gluck embarked on projects elsewhere. From these beginnings a new way of making architecture developed, resulting in structures unmoored from architectural tradition. The three young architects were motivated by the idea that they could control the economics and construction of their buildings, as well as the design. At the time, Sellers was quoted as saying: "The architect is irresponsible today in thinking he has to sit in his office and wait for some client to come up and say, all right build me that. But I think the architect has got to change his whole scope if he's going to survive as an integral part of our future society. I think he's got to play the role of the entrepreneur as well."

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