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Universal Studios has created a replica of Hogwarts in Orlando, Florida. The biggest achievements in immersive special effects ever seen in the amusement park industry, this new Harry Potter extravaganza will be a site to amaze and astound fans and newcomers alike.
Leaky, from the Leaky Cauldron blog has already enjoyed the lucky opportunity to experience the re-created environment.

See links to photos of the yet-to-be unveiled amusement park here: http://media.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/images.php?item=55

In the meantime, we have been scouting out some Hogwarts lookalikes ourselves from around the world.

The top results are, of course, Christ Church College in Oxford University London and the University of Glasgow Scotland. The Harry Potter films were actually shot at Christ Church and the modeling for the exterior of Hogwarts was heavily inspired by the Scottish University.
Surely this dining room looks familiar to some of you?

Look at the window in the background. All we’re missing are the large low hanging candelabras…

It seems a lot of colleges and universities are now claiming the status of Hogwarts look-alikes. However, we feel that we need to bring this Hogwarts mimicry up a level. What’s really in common with all of these places? Gothic Revival Architecture. This is also known as Neo-Gothic, Victorian Gothic and Collegiate Gothic. The centre of this architectural revival was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of “High Church” or Anglo-Catholic self-belief (and by the Catholic convert Augustus Welby Pugin) concerned by the growth of religious non-conformism. This style became widespread in the mid-1800s spawning the neo-Gothic architectural renaissance across Europe, the Americas and Australia.
The number of authentic Gothic structures is indeed outnumbered by these neo-Gothic interpretations.

Here are some significant Australian and American neo-Gothic education institutions that will make you feel like you’ve just stepped into the Harry Potter movies:

The International College of Management Sydney

The old Cardinal’s Palace, this magnificent neo-Gothic structure hosted the over-the-top wedding for Nicole Kidman in 2006.

On closer inspection, the inside also comes close to the real Hogwarts imagery. The students at the hotel management school even wear uniforms that look like the ones from Harry Potter!You have to see it to believe it. It is one of the only colleges in Sydney that can boast the sweeping views of the entire of Manly Beach as well! Geez, these kids do it in style.

It’s now known as the International College of Management Sydney. Nothing’s changed though.

Another place that we found of striking similarity was Harvard University.The dining hall was spot on – and here are those low hanging candelabras we were looking for!
What a gorgeous place to study. Have you seen the library?

You wouldn’t think this place was the breeding ground for Facebook from its traditional influences.

Why did neo-Gothic architecture disappear?

One of the key attractions of this style was the use of structural members in compression, allowing architects to design soaring ceilings with interior columns and tall, narrow windows.
By the turn of the 20th century, the steel frame and the elevator carved the way for architecture to move beyond the Gothic formula to achieve heights never before seen. In place of rib vaults and flying buttresses, steel frames became the new stalwart.
However, if one looks to the grand art-deco cities of the United States, like New York and Chicago, you will see the Neo-Gothic ornamentation exquisitely applied to iron frames in Cass Gilbert’s 1913 Woolworth Building in NewYork and Raymond Hood’s 1922 Tribune Tower in Chicago.

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