The 2012 Hyatt Foundation's Pritzker Prize Ceremony will be held in Beijing, home of Herzog & de Meuron's National Stadium.

The Hyatt Foundation's Pritzker Prize Ceremony, regarded in the architectural world as its own equivalent to theNobel Prize, will be held in Beijing this year, marking the event's first foray in China.

Hyatt Foundation chairman Thomas J. Pritzker

Announcing the news yesterday, Thomas J. Pritzker, Hyatt Foundation chairman, said China was a "particularly appropriate" location because of the number of projects Pritzker laureates have completed or are in the process of completing there, including Zaha Hadid's new opera house in Guangzhou; Rem Koolhaas's Shenzen Stock Exchange and Beijing China Central Television Tower; Herzog & de Meuron's National Stadium in Beijing; and Norman Foster's Hong Kong International Airport. Chinese officials are also looking forward to the ceremony will provide for Beijing.

Rem Koolhaas's China Central Television Tower, Beijing

"Hosting the ceremony in Beijing will also attract many globally reputable architecture firms and architects to participate in building Beijing as the most liveable city and famous cultural capital," Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong said in a statement.

This year's jury includes Hadid and fellow laureate Glen Murcutt, as well as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, among others. The ceremony is scheduled to take place May 25, 2012, but the location is still yet to be determined.