The idea is to demonstrate the plan’s “continuing relevance 100 years on, despite its limited and altered implementation to date. The Griffin plan was and remains visionary – it embraces democratic principles, sustainability and a built environment in harmony with the natural landscape,” the society says.

The Griffin plan has  a cosmopolitan heart, an extensive network of public transport, a main-line railway connecting Canberra with Sydney and Melbourne, and an urban density sufficient to support public transport but not dominating the landscape, but the society is concerned that competitions like the Canberra Centenary’s CAPITheticAL international design competition belittles and sideline the achievement of the Griffins.

In fact in an effort to highlight that point, they submitted an earlier version of this video to the competition and weren’t shortlisted.

The Griffins’ Australian story began 100 years ago, when their plans won the Australian National Capital Competition on May 23, 1912.

Federal Minister for Home Affairs, King O’Malley, pronounced: “What we wanted was the best the world can give us and we have got it.”

The video is based on Marion Mahony Griffin drawings and the design concepts on which they are based, all conserved and kept by the National Archives.

Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin, late 1920s, photographer Rowland Herbert, courtesy Cherilyn Herbert. Reproduction rights reserved.