He studied at the Barcelona School of Architecture and qualified as an architect in 1906.

His early work reflects the influence of the architect A. Gaudí, although he never worked directly with him. He met Gaudí through his contact with the Marian Congregation and the Catalanist Academy and as a result of attending the courses held in the parish of the Temple of the Sagrada Família. The works of his early period, therefore, follow the postulates of A. Gaudí and also J. Puig i Cadafalch, his two masters.

Rafael Masó is, like J.M. Pericas, an architect halfway between Modernisme and Noucentisme ("1900-ism", a term coined in 1906 to refer to 20th century Catalan culture). Around the 1920s, his architecture evolved towards an idiom heavily influenced by the architecture of Central Europe and the Secessionstil - which he got to know on a trip in 1912 - and the new Noucentista aesthetic current, as can be seen in Casa Masramon (Joaquim Vayreda, 6, Olot, 1913-1914). Most of his work is in the town of Girona and the surrounding area. As far as his production in the Modernista style is concerned, special mention must be made of La Farinera Teixidor (1910-1911; Teixidor Flour Mill, Carretera de la Santa Església, Girona), in which Gaudí's influence and the incorporation of new aesthetic features are both noticeable.

His career is closely linked to that of J.M. Pericas, another architect belonging to the second generation of Modernisme with whom he won the competition to build the Mental Clinic in Santa Coloma de Gramanet (1923-24), although it was not actually constructed according to these plans.

He often used ceramics as a decorative element and as a covering for the constructive elements in his buildings. In 1911, together with the Coromines brothers, he founded L a Gabarra, a ceramics factory that was in operation until 1919. A few years later, in 1924, together with the sculptor Fidel Aguilar i Marcó, he set up Argerates factory in Quart.