‘Become Nosara’, Nosara’s beloved Area-51 themed living complex, was yesterday awarded the prestigious Concrete Building Visible from Space (CBVS) award at the annual Comcon conference in Los Angeles.  Previous winners of the prize have included a football stadium in Brazil, a phosphorus mine in Western Sahara, and the seawall along the Thames, in central London.

Reached by phone in Los Angeles, Become Nosara marketing director Chad Helmsworth was modestly effusive.”It’s an honor, really. I want to give a shoutout to the concrete plant in Santa Cruz. We couldn’t have done it without them.” Chad went on to pitch us on renting co-working space, assuring us that “there really is a co-working space at Become Nosara”, and that “it isn’t just made up”.

Become Nosara has not had an easy path since construction. Rumors of Scientology funding have never quite been dispelled. Local surfers report a strange phenomenon – they meet guys in the water who say they live at Become Nosara – but then they never actually see those guys again. There have been persistent reports of strange lights in the night sky over the complex. And many local tuk-tuk drivers flatly refuse to go into Become Nosara, saying there’s something weird about the place and all their abuelas think so too.

The award was widely praised yesterday, both in architectural circles and concrete industry trade journals. Local entrepreneurs told Nosara Lately that they hope the award lowers the bar for what can be built in our beautiful community. One well-respected cement truck driver reminded us that Donald Loria’s first architectural achievement – at age 23 – was the beloved Nosara airport  –  built entirely in concrete.

At the time, the Nosara Airport was too small to qualify for the prestigious CBVS award, though with the new KLM frequent flyer lounge, this may soon change.  Loria’s bold, visionary design nevertheless won worldwide praise for its breezy check-in, open design, and concrete benches. “Loria showed us all what a small rural airport could be”, said one well-known architectural critic at the time. “And he did it with concrete.”