I don't know why this module is still so undiscovered by the drupal users...
i think is a really good idea and it can be really helpful, i've tried display suite in the past but it is simply too much, while its idea to add build modes to the default ones provided by drupal is the best features you might find in that module.

Anyway...i don't know if this is someway doable, but it could be cool to make the build modes available also as single fields for a view.
I have a situation where i need to group the view's results basing on a field and this way i cannot use a build mode and i have to proceed with a views standard template.

I think this is mostly the benefit to use build modes, keeping focus on nodes while theming avoiding the complexity of the views templating system.
Thank you,
Da.