Vespignani was undoubtedly the architect of a distinctive Salesian identity trait, both in the case of those Salesian blocks and in the reiteration of the sacred architectural form of the central bell tower.
The "need for sacred spaces" is probably the fundamental core underlying the work of this Salesian architect. Through his creations, Vespignani gave a concrete answer to an age-old question for sacred architecture - the dilemma between beauty and functionality - in a context of the progressive overcoming of tensions between the Argentine political hierarchy and the Catholic Church, and of intra-ecclesial transitions related to adapting to the new model of cultural absorption and social integration brought about by the enormous flows of migration.
The works built by the Salesian fit into the dynamics of these processes. Vespignani arrived in Argentina in 1901 in the precise kairos of a country launched to the utopian conquest of infinite progress, one that called upon men and women of goodwill arriving from Europe to achieve.
Italy, home of Don Bosco, the Salesian Congregation, of many missionaries who came to Argentina and Vespignani himself, was one of those places that provided more migrants to the country, who influenced the identity configuration of a modern, plural, and cosmopolitan Argentina. And Salesian schools played an eminent role in this process of integration of urban populations, especially in teaching arts and crafts, as well as in pastoral work in Patagonia.
However, as Professor Juan Lázara, author of the book "Ernesto Vespignani y la arquitectura sagrada," published by Ediciones Don Bosco of Buenos Aires, points out, it was not all easy or simple for those missionaries: although conflicts with state authorities had reached a stage of concord, new threats were appearing on the scene, embodied by the lodges and activist groups of Italian Carbonari, anarchists of all backgrounds and local Freemasons. Also advancing was Methodist propaganda, which was also a source of tension in the educational field, especially in the capital's suburbs.
All of these circumstances motivated rapid pedagogical and evangelizing responses on the part of the Sons of Don Bosco, which were also carried out by resorting to the purchase of vast tracts of land (entire blocks, in fact) and the construction of colorful complexes of educational-recreational architecture as well as cultural.
Salesian work in Argentina acquired remarkable versatility in the implementation of this undertaking. And Vespignani was a key resource in organizing an efficient technical office, which produced projects of appreciable construction quality, functional intelligence, and aesthetic beauty in the service of faith. As already mentioned, "the Salesian block" became a trademark, and the resulting volume of buildings was overwhelming.
Art was one of the two vocations of Vespignani, who grew up in a family environment of deep religiosity: it is no coincidence that his parents gave the Church and the Salesian Congregation three sons who were priests. This dual soul of Vespignani, combining art and pastoral work, would see its first developments in Italy, but would find creative fulfillment in Argentina, where Ernesto worked while his brother Joseph was Provincial. The idea of building a monumental church in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Almagro was the reason for his arrival in Argentina, just as Ernesto
was completing the church of Valsalice, in Turin, next to what was then Don Bosco's tomb.
Eventually, all three brothers - Giuseppe, Ernesto, and Pietro - carried out their mission in the lands of La Plata, as if to concretize that yearning of the Roman navigators that Cicero puts into the mouth of old Cato in "De senectute": ad portus, ex longa navegationem... (to port, after a long voyage...).
Despite an error repeated by many, Vespignani never earned a degree in Architecture, but he did not need one either to practice his profession or to prove himself an excellent designer.
Although he was not the first in this field, the use of industrial structures and his openness to the use of new construction technologies derived from the use of reinforced concrete in church buildings also stand out in his works. In this sense, he was one of the pioneers and most intense promoters.
And while it is possible to recapitulate the masters and his Italian colleagues who most influenced his production - Mario Ceradini, Alessandro Antonelli (rightly called "the Italian Eiffel"), Carlo Ceppi, Giuseppe Sacconi, Camilo Boito, and Edoardo Mella - it remains an arduous task to produce a complete inventory of Vespignani's works, which runs into the pitfalls of his vast heterogeneity. Documentation is scattered and incomplete, both in Argentina and Italy, the places where the author was most prolific, although his works have also been found in Peru, Brazil, and Uruguay, virtually unknown to local critics.
The figure of the Italian-born and Argentine-adopted priest, builder of churches and schools, is now beginning to receive the aura of celebrity that had been denied him for several decades, and his name is beginning to accompany that of other distinguished figures who have left the mark of their excellence in Argentine historical architecture.
