Artur Tarkhanyan was born in Leninakan on February 23, 1932 in a family of doctors. He graduated at the Architecture department of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1957. After his graduation he immediately started his professional career with the studio of S. Safaryan at the Armenian State Projecting Institute. The first architectural projects Artur Tarkhanyan was involved in during the early days of his career were the buildings of the National Academy of Sciences and Gyumri Dramatic Theatre.

From 1969 to 1978 Artur Tarkhanyan was the manager of a typical planning studio, and from 1978 to 1982 he was the head of studio #5 at the Armenian State Planning Institute. from 1982 to 1989 he was the Deputy Head of the State Committee for Architecture and Construction. From 1990 to 2005 Artur Tarkhanyan worked at the Armenian State Planning Institute as a Chief Architect.

In May 1987 he was one of the members of the group that visited Chernobyl to study the consequences of the disaster. He made his valuable input to the development of the conceptual design of the sarcophagus constructed around the nuclear plant of Chernobyl.

Artur Tarkhanyan is author of more than 30 multi-storey residential buildings, kindergartens, public schools, clubs, resorts, cinemas and other public buildings, which were built in Yerevan, other cities of Armenia and the former Soviet Union. He is also the author of the city plans for Abovyan and Sevan, as well as for Erebuni - 3 residential district of Yerevan. The "Ayrarat" cinema house, the Youth Palace and the "Zvartnots" International Airport are his most significant works. Artur Tarkhanyan also designed more than a dozen monuments, among which is the Memorial of Armenian Genocide on Tsitsernakaberd hill.

Arthur Tarkhanyan was also actively involved in the social and political life of Armenia. In 1958 he became a member of the Architects' Union of Armenia, and afterwards he was elected a member of the Union's presidium. For many years he was a member of Yerevan city construction council and a member of Hayseymshin Scientific Research Institute's scientific council. He was elected twice as a Deputy of the Parliament of the Armenian SSR and from 1968 to 2001 he was teaching at Yerevan Architecture and Construction State University. In 1994 Tarkhanyan founded a studio with his daughter Anahit Tarkhanyan. He died on April 6th, 2008.