Irina Harutyunyan was born on 30 June 1937 in the Soviet Armenian capital Yerevan. She went to the Polytechnic Institute of Yerevan and finished her studies there in 1960. Harutyunyan focused mainly on landscape architecture, as well as architectural projects in rural areas. She was responsible for the design of buildings for public institutions in various towns and villages in Armenia. She also designed hotels and hospitals. For the Armenian city of Etchmiadzin (Эчмиадзин), she was commissioned to design the Prosecutor’s House (Дом прокуратуры) and the Music School (Музыкальная школа). Harutyunyan was also responsible for the rehabilitation and beautification of residential areas in Artashat (Арташат) and Sevan (Севан).

She put her focus on design improvement in existing structures. Not only buildings were improved, but also parks and rural spaces. Yerevan’s courtyard areas and forest park areas were upgraded by her for the eyes of the city’s residents and visitors. The visual attractiveness of the forest park areas of the resorts of Yermuk and Dilijan (курортах Джермук и Дилижан) increased, due to Harutyunyan’s improvement works. For her, not only the recreational places should be equipped, but also the surroundings. She had the resting places near the Parz Leach Lake (озера Парз-Лич) landscaped to achieve an inviting effect.

The architect thus took on additional landscape planning tasks and combined it with building design. She set up model projects of houses in rural Armenia. Among them were schools or clubs to be built on the outskirts of the cities to provide basic education and culture for the villagers.

Harutyunyan was not only committed to optimising the quality of life in several places and houses. The research of improved urban living conditions was another part of her work. Together with the YSMI Hygiene Department (кафедрой гигиены ЕрМИ), she wrote a scientific paper on the orientation of school buildings taking into account the climatic conditions in Yerevan. In addition, the architect advocated for water quality in cities. Due to the high chlorine content of tap water in Yerevan, Harutyunyan got in touch with CJSC “Yerevandjour” (ЗАО “Ереванджур”) – a company of the Armenian water, sewage and other systems industry. It stimulated the measures against drinking water pollution with its commitment.