Gulchohra Mammadova was born in 1953 in the Vedi district of western Azerbaijan. She studied architecture at Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute (renamed as Azerbaijan Institute of Engineering and Construction in 1975) between 1971 and 1976. Between 1975 and 1979, Mammadova was the secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Youth organization) committee of the institute. In 1979, she became an instructor at the chair of “Architectural structures and restoration of monuments” at the institute. In 1985, she defended doctoral dissertation, devoted to ”Christian architecture of Caucasian Albania in the early medieval period”, and in 1999 she received her secondary doctorate degree for a dissertation on “Religious architecture of Caucasian Albania.“ Remaining a faculty at the institute (now known as Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction), Mammadova became a professor in 2000. 

Mammadova is the author of two monographs and multiple articles. Her architectural projects include participating in the restoration of the Georgian Kish church in Shaki, the Nidj temple in Gabala, the Qum Basilica in the Gakh district, as well as the construction of Sharq, a 16-storey residential building in Baku.

Since 2000 Mammadova has also been serving as the rector of Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction. Since 2007 she has been secretary of the Board of the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan. 

In 2000-2005 Mammadova was a member of the 2nd National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan–the parliament of the republic. 

In 2006, Mammadova was awarded the title “distinguished architect of Azerbaijan.”  Architect of the Republic.” In 2012 she was awarded the commemorative medal of architect Mikail Useynov. In 2013, she also became a recipient of the Shorhat (Glory) order of the president of Azerbaijan.