PETER MARINO

NEW YORK-BASED ARCHITECT

“I set out to create a trunk that even Harry Houdini could not get out of. In 1912, Houdini performed his underwater trunk escape. Houdini was shackled, chained, trussed and nailed into the trunk. It only took Houdini two and a half minutes to free himself and surface from the trunk. Houdini later performed this trick several times, and it often took him less than a minute to free himself. Houdini was able to perform his stunt by shifting a panel over, opening up the trunk enough to escape. We designed the trunk with tight-fitting leather straps in order to avoid any chance of shifting panels over to allow for the stunt escape. The challenge now is open to any aspiring Houdini to escape this Houdini Trunk.”