Early on in Patrick Creadon’s new documentary If You Build It, architects Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller tell the cameras that they aren’t keen to work a nine-to-five. They prefer something a little more hands-on: Their public interest design program, Studio H, has not only taught design skills to hundreds of young people around the country, but also has students building things like playgrounds, obstacle courses and public chicken coops.

Creadon has proven himself a dynamic director. Two of his previous films, Wordplay and I.O.U.S.A., respectively tackled crossword puzzles and the national debt, and his newest effort follows Miller and Pilloton as they open a design studio Bertie County, N.C., where they will teach their trade to a class of high-school juniors. Superintendent Dr. Chip Zullinger lured the pair, who are also life partners, to create a curriculum that would counter the online courses that had taken hold of many of the county’s classrooms.

Bertie County is a place beset by rural poverty. It has a median household income of $31,194, and the film’s opening scenes run down the visible indicators of rural blight. You see pastures, but also a main street struggling with vacancy and at least one local mayor worried about job creation.

The class’ final project, a farmers’ market in Windsor, N.C. Credit: Brad Feinknopf

The intrigue here is plain and simple: Will the architects and their new class “build it” — “it” being a prettier-than-usual farmer’s market for the town of Windsor, the county seat. Before the students even learn how to weld, the school board forces the superintendent to resign, placing the whole endeavor in limbo. Pilloton and Miller agree continue without their salaries, which had been on the district’s tab, while grants cover materials and resources for the class.

There are no interviews with board members, so the lack of support comes off as inscrutable. Viewers are left to wonder how the design goals will be met, but also how long Pilloton and Miller can last in Bertie County without pay. This early drama with the board, and interviews with the mayor of Windsor, only give a taste of the local political climate.

We follow the class for a year as the students figure out how to approach their own designs. The kids also shoot footage of their own, some of which makes it into the film’s final cut. Their flipcams capture them goofing around, but we also see them building structures like a Brutalist chicken coop, which is a sweet thing to watch.

Though it could benefit from more cultural and political context, If You Build It delivers on the dynamics of a classroom of high-schoolers learning about design and using it to make a difference where they live.

If You Build It premiered in New York on January 10 and will open in other cities well into the spring. It is currently showing in Philadelphia and San Diego.

Cassie Owens is a regular contributor to Next City. Her writing has also appeared at CNN.com, Philadelphia City Paper and other publications.

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