He studied architecture at La Llotja, the Barcelona School of Fine Arts, and qualified as an architect in 1854.

From 1878 he had his own workshop in Barcelona called Torras, Ferreria i Construccions which specialised in metal roofing. He was a professor of materials at the Barcelona School of Architecture.

The metal support structure of Palau Gu?ell (1885-1889; Nou de la Rambla, 3-5), by A. Gaudí, was made in his workshop as was the scaffolding used in constructing the monument to Columbus in Barcelona. In 1906 he built Casa Vidal (1906; Gran de Sant Andreu, 255), in which the façade, with its sinuous balconies, and the sgrafitti stand out.

There are works by him in other Catalan towns, such as Girona, where he built the Sant Agustí bridge over the river Onyar just after he set up his company.