If You Build It is a 2013 documentary directed by Patrick Creadon, produced by Neal Baer, and filmed on location largely in the town of Windsor and surrounding Bertie County, North Carolina, the state's poorest county.
The documentary follows a year in the life of an innovative, design-based high school program, culminating with the design and sixteen-week construction of a farmer's market pavilion, the only farmers market pavilion in the U.S. designed and built by high school students.
The film's title is a truncated reference to the catchphrase "if you build it, they will come," from the 1989 film, Field of Dreams.
^ "Film Review: If You Build It". Architectural Record.
^ "Emily Pilloton Talks Inspiring Students Through Design in ‘If You Build It’". Way Too Indie, February 25, 2014, Bernard Boo.
^ "Windsor Super Market". Project H.
^ "IF YOU BUILD IT WILL THEY COME? CAN A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS IN RURAL AMERICA TRANSFORM THEIR TOWN WITH ARCHITECTURE?". Architectural Review, 16 January 2014, Phineas Harper.Synopsis
In 2010, Superintendent of Public Schools for Bertie County, Chip Zullinger (1951-2014) had been hired to address the school district's serious shortcomings. After completing four large architectural projects with designer Emily Pilloton (author of the 2009 book Design Revolution) and architect Matt Miller, Zullinger invited the two to create a high school curriculum.