Those who fund a project always have the last word.

All designs have a commissioner - the person or persons of power within an organization who have the wherewithal to fund the design process - or call it off.

Who is ultimately responsible for the design? The commissioner. And a designer must keep this in mind every day. Because without a proper answer to this question, the design will fail to meet the expectations of the most important member of the team.

James Lick was such a person in San Francisco during the late 1800's. Having made a somewhat ruthless fortune in the real estate business during the California gold rush he wanted to be remembered more kindly. And so, near the end of his life, he commissioned many works of art and other monuments to his patronage throughout San Francisco.

But his crowning effort - literally - is not to be found in the bay city at all, but rather atop a mountain some 20 miles to the south in the form of a large refracting telescope. In fact, when it was built, it was the largest telescope of any kind in the world.

James Lick knew nothing of telescopes or astronomy or optics or the practical considerations of building an observatory. He was interested only in a having a visible memorial and he had some strange ideas as a result. It required considerable tact and careful persuasion on the part of astronomers to convince Lick, for example, that the site of his observatory should be on a mountaintop under a proper dome, rather than in downtown San Francisco in the form of a giant mausoleum.

On one point Lick would not budge, however. His body was to be buried inside the telescope mounting. The astronomers were appalled. How could someone be expected to work nights on a lonely mountain with a corpse in the telescope?

Yet, after considerable debate it was decided that Lick should have his way with his corpse -- to fight for a mountaintop location was worth the risk, but the crypt had no effect on how well the telescope would perform. And so the astronomers decided not to jeopardize the project by fighting the idea.

They knew that those who fund a project always have the last word.