[1] He was a member of the Taller Torres García school of art and in 1955 he created, together with his wife Carmen Cano, the Taller Collell (Collell Workshop) of ceramics where for thirty years they taught their ceramic technique, the burnished engobe.

It was the name given by Joaquín Torres García to the artistic language he wanted to create for Latin America in order to unite the primitive vision of Pre-Columbian Art and the geometrical abstraction of the European avant-gardes.

An aesthetic approach to project to applied arts as well, from ceramics to architecture, and a way to stimulate experimentation with different techniques and materials.

Collell started his first ceramic experiments with Antonio Pezzino, Carlos Martinez, Rodolfo Visca and Gonzalo Fonseca.

Its legacy is also present in the ceramics of Lidya Buzio,[3] and Carme Collell who have spread it through United States and Europe.