In the world of fantasy and imagination, there exists a place that can transport anyone into a realm of magic and enchantment - the magical dormitory. This extraordinary place is unlike any other living space one could imagine. Tucked away from prying eyes and hidden from the mortal world, the magical dormitory is a sanctuary for all aspiring witches and wizards. As one approaches the entrance of the dormitory, they are greeted by a majestic archway. Carved with intricate symbols and adorned with shimmering sapphire stones, the archway creates an immediate sense of wonder and anticipation. Stepping through the archway, students find themselves in a courtyard surrounded by tall towers and vibrant gardens.

Magical Incubators

Building 20, MIT’s temporary war-works headquarters, earned a reputation as a “magical incubator” in the mid-20th century because of the pioneering work that went on there during and after World War II—and not just defense work. Linguistics, stroboscopy—even hacking developed there. Although the structure was temporary, the culture of Building 20 pervaded MIT to the extent that the campus today has become an integrated network of magical incubators.

Residence halls and living groups

_{Photo: AboveSummit with Christopher Harting}

Residence halls and living groups are as much incubators for invention at MIT as the labs and classrooms. It’s one reason the Institute began, in 2002, to require freshmen to live on campus. Every dorm is a culture within the MIT culture, with signature events, traditions, and activities—hacking, for example. From the school’s earliest days, dorm-centered hacking groups have generated many of the most hallowed hacks and pranks. In the 1970s and 1980s, Tetazoo, the infamous East Campus dormitory hacking group, often added its own artworks to campus exhibitions.

Other residence halls have established rituals like the annual Baker House Piano Drop, which began in 1972 when Charlie Bruno ’74, decided to heave a piano from the residence hall roof. Baker students later named a unit of measurement after him—one Bruno equals the volume of the cavity produced by a 600-pound piano falling 75 feet onto concrete and asphalt pavement. Then there’s the annual Bad Ideas Festival that the East Campus dormitory celebrates as part of Independent Activities Period (IAP). Want to build a multi-story rollercoaster out in the quad on the coldest weekend in January? The Bad Ideas Festival is your chance.

More

• Take a virtual tour of MIT residence halls
• Read more about the Baker House Piano Drop
• Institute Historian T. F. Peterson, Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003)

Building 17 is the location of the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel.

_{Photo: Christopher Harting}

Interior of the original Wiesner Building.

_{Photo: Dominick Reuter}

Media Lab

From its inception in 1980, the MIT Media Lab has been an influential leader in the digital revolution. Its cross-disciplinary philosophy encourages the convergence of conventionally disparate research areas and has expanded the frontier of digital invention from wearable computing to stackable electric cars and advanced imaging technologies that can “see around a corner.” The lab grew out of the work of the MIT Architecture Machine Group (1967–1985), a think tank that studied new approaches to human-computer interaction, and was the joint vision of the group’s founder Nicholas Negroponte and former MIT President Jerome Wiesner.

The Media Lab headquarters, named for Wiesner, was designed by MIT alumnus I. M. Pei ’40, architect of such iconic structures as the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre. A soaring addition by Maki & Associates opened in 2009 to contain the expanded work of the lab, which now includes 25 interdisciplinary research groups working on more than 350 projects. Media Lab research has generated more than 150 spin-out companies.

• Read “Huge MIT Media Lab Inventions that Changed Our World” in Wired magazine.
• Watch video about advances at the MIT Media Lab

The Infinite Corridor

MIT’s 825-foot central corridor is the spine of the main campus complex. It’s called the Infinite Corridor—but not just because it’s the longest straight corridor in the world. This nondescript hallway that connects West Campus to East has inspired infinite scientific inquiry, creative musings, and spiritual wonder. Students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Transport Lab, for example, have studied the Infinite Corridor’s foot traffic as a model for highway vehicular patterns.

Then there’s MIThenge (rhymes with Stonehenge). Every November and January, skies permitting, a beam of sun shoots down the full length of the corridor, creating a haunting aura. Discovered in the mid-1970s by a researcher in the MIT School of Architecture, MIThenge has inspired calculations, in-depth charts and graphs, and lengthy theorizing on how to determine precisely when the solar alignment will take place. MIT writing teacher Joe Haldeman, a popular science fiction author, even expounds on the phenomenon in his 2007 novel The Accidental Time Machine.

• Embark on a virtual tour of the Infinite Corridor
• Take a video tour of the Infinite Corridor
• Learn more about MIThenge
• Institute Historian T. F. Peterson, Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003)

MIT's Infinite Corridor

_{Photo: Christopher Harting}

Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel

The first building on MIT’s new Cambridge campus was not a classroom or a conventional lab: it was a wind tunnel. MIT aeronautics pioneers Jerome Hunsaker, who went on to head Goodyear Zeppelin Company, and Donald Douglas, who would later found Douglas Aircraft Company, constructed the tunnel on Vassar Street. Although designed primarily for aeronautical testing, the wind tunnel was also used to measure wind pressure on skyscraper models, rates of evaporation from reservoirs, and air resistance on everything from automobiles to tennis rackets. In 1917, the US Army Air Service tested nearly every World War I aircraft there.

In 1935, Hunsaker successfully lobbied for a new wind tunnel, which is actually a donut-shaped chamber allowing speeds in excess of 400 mph. The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel opened in the late summer of 1938 and, like almost every other lab at MIT, was pressed into service for war work—in this case, the testing of WWII fighter planes. Since then, the wind tunnel has played a major role in the development of aerospace, civil engineering, and architecture—testing, for example, why the windows were falling out of the new John Hancock Building in Boston in the 1970s. Researchers today are using it to increase the efficiency of wind turbines, space suits, and commercial aircraft.

More

• Watch the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel in action
• William T.G. Litant, “The Timeless Tunnel,” AeroAstro Magazine, 2011–2012

• Architectural Evolution and Reinvention
• The MIT Way
• The Cambridge Factor
• Magical Incubators
• Shaped By & Shaping the World
• Galleries

Building 20

At the time of MIT Building 20’s dismantling, The New York Times celebrated it as a “true altar of creativity.” The three-story structure was built in 1943 to house the crucial war work of the MIT Radiation Laboratory, which invented single antenna radar here. The Rad Lab was dissolved in 1945, but the concrete slab with the flat tarpaper roof blossomed into a legendary subculture. Building 20 was headquarters to dozens of departments and clubs, including the legendary Tech Model Railroad Club, birthplace of the hacking culture; the Research Lab for Electronics, an offspring of the Rad Lab; and Noam Chomsky’s trailblazing linguistics program. The “plywood palace” was demolished in 1998, outpacing its intended lifespan by 50 years. The Stata Center now stands in its place.

More

• Video about the life and times of Building 20
• Read more about Building 20
• History of the MIT Department of Physics
• Philip J. Hilts, “Last Rites for a Plywood Palace that was a Rock of Science,” The New York Times (March 31, 1998)
• Adelyn Perez, “Simmons Hall at MIT/Stephen Holl,” ArchDaily (June 2010).

Frequently Asked Questions

A: Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is an immersive collectible card (CCG) and massively multiplayer (MMO) wizarding duelling game featuring a blend of strategy roleplay (RPG) elements. Players will take on the role of a first-year student at Hogwarts, joining thousands of other witches and wizards in a quest to master their magic.

A: Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is co-published by Warner Bros. Games and NetEase Games under the Portkey Games label.

A: Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is co-developed by Warner Bros. Games and NetEase Games under the Portkey Games label.

A: Harry Potter: Magic Awakened will be available for free download on the App Store and Google Play for mobile devices.

A: While Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is not a direct adaptation of the books and films, the game is anchored in wizarding world lore. Warner Bros. Games and NetEase Games are creating a unique gaming experience that is inspired by the magical universe created by J.K. Rowling, in which players will find new and unexpected characters and story elements.

A: The story showcased in the game is not a new story from J.K. Rowling, however it is inspired by the magical world she created. Each experience offered under Portkey Games will take place in the wizarding world and will be authentic to it. J.K. Rowling is hugely supportive of Portkey Games and has entrusted the design and creation of the games to Warner Bros. Games and the developers involved. Her team have also collaborated closely with Warner Bros. Games on all aspects of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened to ensure it remains a true part of the Wizarding World experience and is in line with the creativity and magic that fans expect.

A: Harry Potter Magic Awakened is set ten years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and features new and original characters from the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened invites players to experience a brand-new story in the wizarding world. Each year at Hogwarts will bring a fresh arc and different adventure to explore.

A: Portkey Games, from Warner Bros. Games, is the games label dedicated to creating new Wizarding World mobile and videogame experiences that place the player at the center of their own adventure, inspired by J.K. Rowling’s original stories. Portkey Games offers players the opportunity to make their own narrative choices and engage with the wizarding world setting to discover new and unique experiences. The label was created to bring gamers and fans new gaming experiences that allow them to delve into the Wizarding World in immersive ways where they can create their own magical stories.

A: In the Harry Potter series, a Portkey is an object, enchanted to instantly transport anyone touching it to a specific location. Most of the time, a Portkey is an everyday object that would not draw the attention of a Muggle. For Portkey Games, it symbolizes how games under this label will transport fans to their own adventures inspired by the wizarding world.

A: Portkey Games enables developers to create a variety of new and immersive gaming experiences that are all inspired by the wizarding world. These experiences have not been written by J.K. Rowling and will not be direct adaptations of the books and films. These are games that have been created for the fans, by game-makers who themselves are fans of and have been inspired by the wizarding world.

A: Each experience offered under Portkey Games will take place in the wizarding world and will be authentic to it. J.K. Rowling is supportive of Portkey Games and has entrusted the design and creation of the games to Warner Bros. Games and the developers involved who are collaborating with her team closely on all aspects of the game.

A: While Portkey Games are not direct adaptations of the books and films, the games are firmly rooted in the magical universe of the wizarding world. While remaining true to J. K Rowling’s original vision, Portkey game developers chart new territory creating fresh ways for fans to immerse themselves in the Wizarding World.

A: While Portkey Games are not direct adaptations of the books and films, the games are firmly rooted in the magical universe of Harry Potter. While remaining true to J. K Rowling’s original vision, Portkey game developers chart new territory creating fresh ways for fans to immerse themselves in the Wizarding World.

Q: Will favourite characters and locations from the Harry Potter books and films be featured in Portkey Games?

A: In Portkey Games, you can expect to see familiar locations and fan favourite characters, as well as new characters. You may even see familiar characters at different points in their lives depending on the game and experience.

Harry Potter Magic Awakened dormitories keep you from clanning with other houses and the opposite gender

After you’ve selected your house in Harry Potter Magic Awakened, you can create or join a dormitory, which is basically a clan. You can only have three other players in your dormitory, but the strict realism doesn’t end there. In Harry Potter Magic Awakening, a social RPG, you can’t be in a dormitory with anyone from a different house or with the opposite gender.

Stepping through the archway, students find themselves in a courtyard surrounded by tall towers and vibrant gardens. Fragrant flowers bloom in every corner, perfuming the air with their sweet aroma. Inside the dormitory building, the halls are lined with tapestries that tell stories of ancient battles and legendary heroes.

How do dormitories work in Harry Potter Magic Awakened?

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Dormitories in Harry Potter Magic Awakened are too realistic. Mobile games of this caliber usually have a clan system where you can join your friends and do activities together. Dormitories are the clans in Harry Potter Magic Awakened.

Being in a dormitory gives you a 20% increase in gold gain when dueling with a roommate in the Duelling Club. Also, you gain additional bonuses for exploring the Forbidden Forest together with roommates. These bonuses make having an active dormitory important, but odds are you can’t invite your friends.

Dormitories in Harry Potter Magic Awakened are locked behind realistic RPG standards. In Hogwarts, men can only room with men and women can only room with women. The same applies in Harry Potter Magic Awakened — it’s stated strictly in the rules that “witches and wizards cannot share a dormitory.”

On top of that, you can only have a dormitory with people in your same house. So, if you chose Hufflepuff and your friend chose Ravenclaw, you can’t be in the same dormitory. Also, if you and your friend both chose Slytherin but one is a girl and one is a guy, then you can’t be in the same dormitory.

While sticking to the authentic wizarding experience is cool, having strict rules on how to play with your friends in this Harry Potter RPG is a bad choice. Hopefully, Portkey Games changes this soon so you can dorm with any house and any gender, but for now, it is as strict as Hogwarts is.

• Tagged with
• Harry Potter Magic Awakened
• Portkey Games

From his early days of blog-style music, movie, and game reviews to working as the Esports Writer at Coastline Community College, Noah Nelson now works fulltime as a Staff Writer for Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion. He has been helping gamers everywhere with Destiny 2 god rolls, Warzone 2 DMZ missions, and collectibles in any indie game for over a year and a half. His Bachelor's Degree in English Rhetoric and Composition with a minor in Journalism from CSULB has shaped him to be a strong writer and editor. His fondest gaming memory is playing Sly Cooper 2 after begging his mom (for hours) to play it before his birthday and he still cries myself to sleep remembering the time he accidentally saved over his 99% completion save file in Kingdom Hearts 2.

The walls seem to breathe with magic as small sparks of colorful light swirl and dance along the length of the corridors. Each dorm room is uniquely designed to reflect the personality and interests of its inhabitant. Some have cozy fireplaces and soft, fluffy beds, while others are adorned with bookshelves filled to the brim with ancient spellbooks and magical artifacts. The heart of the magical dormitory is the common room, a place where students gather to relax and socialize after a long day of studying magic. The room is bathed in a warm golden glow, courtesy of the ever-burning fireplace. Plush armchairs and squishy couches invite students to unwind and converse with their peers. Above the crackling fire, a ceiling of stars stretches out endlessly, creating the illusion of being outdoors under the night sky. Adjacent to the common room is the library, a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom. Books with weathered covers and tattered pages line the shelves, filled with spells, potions, and detailed accounts of magical creatures. The library is a sanctuary for those seeking solace or diving into the depths of ancient legends. It is a place where answers are found and secrets are unlocked. Throughout the magical dormitory, the air vibrates with whispered incantations and the hum of spells being cast. Students can be seen practicing charms in the courtyard, concocting potions in the well-equipped laboratory, or engaging in intense duels in the training grounds. The dormitory is more than just a place to rest; it is a hub of magical energy, a sanctuary where young witches and wizards can hone their craft and forge lifelong friendships. The magical dormitory is a testament to the power of imagination and the beauty of the unseen. It is a place where dreams come to life and new adventures unfold. It is here, within the confines of these hallowed walls, that young sorcerers and sorceresses find their true potential and discover the wonder of the magical world that lies just beyond their doorstep..

Reviews for "The History of Magical Dormitories: From Ancient Times to the Present"

1. Alex - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "Magical Dormitory". The characters were one-dimensional and lacked any depth. The story itself was predictable and didn't offer anything new or exciting. The writing was also quite mediocre and didn't captivate me at all. Overall, I found the novel to be a letdown and wouldn't recommend it to others.

2. Sarah - 1 star - "Magical Dormitory" was a complete waste of time. The plot was slow and uneventful, with no real climax or resolution. The characters were uninteresting and I couldn't connect with any of them. I had high hopes for this book, considering the intriguing title, but it failed to deliver in every aspect. I struggled to finish it and ultimately regretted even starting it. Save yourself the trouble and skip this one.

3. Mike - 2 stars - I found "Magical Dormitory" to be a lackluster fantasy novel. The world-building was weak, and I had trouble immersing myself in the story. The magical elements felt forced and didn't add anything significant to the plot or the overall reading experience. The pacing was also off, with long stretches of mundane events and little excitement. Unfortunately, this book just didn't capture my imagination or hold my interest.

The Benefits of Living in a Magical Dormitory