Christian Calleri, one of the masterplan architects for McMillan, responds to the testimony at HPRB about comparative underground structures in Turkey and Italy.
I know there has been a lot of interest repurposing more underground cells at McMillan, so I did some research in response.
Re: the Basilica Cistern, in Istanbul.
From Wikipedia: ‘…an underground chamber approximately 138 meters (453ft) by 64.6 meters (212ft)—about 9800 square meters (105,000SF) in area—capable of holding 80,000 cubic meters (2,800,000 cubic feet) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 meter (30ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns each spaced 4.9 meters (16ft) apart.’ For comparison, Cell 14 is 112ft by 340ft, and the normative cell type (15-29) are 154ft x 294ft. So the cistern is about the size of 2 underground cells. Here is the wikipage with photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Cistern
RE: the Piscina Mirabilis in Italy:
It is about ½ the size of one cell. Here are interesting views of it, one in an old drawing, one in a photograph.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscina_Mirabilis
Christian Calleri, AIA
Associate
Perkins Eastman
2121 WARD COURT, NW SIXTH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20037
T. 202.212.6075
F. 202.861.1326
E: c.calleri@perkinseastman.com
WWW.PERKINSEASTMAN.COM
