diff --git a/nipype/exceptions.py b/nipype/exceptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6352c78f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nipype/exceptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+class NipypeError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+class PipelineError(NipypeError):
+    pass
+
+
+class NodeError(PipelineError):
+    pass
+
+
+class WorkflowError(NodeError):
+    pass
+
+
+class MappingError(NodeError):
+    pass
+
+
+class JoinError(NodeError):
+    pass
+
+
+class InterfaceError(NipypeError):
+    pass
diff --git a/nipype/pipeline/engine/workflows.py b/nipype/pipeline/engine/workflows.py
index d2f040786e..c0e253c0e3 100644
--- a/nipype/pipeline/engine/workflows.py
+++ b/nipype/pipeline/engine/workflows.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import networkx as nx
 
 from ... import config, logging
+from ...exceptions import NodeError, WorkflowError, MappingError, JoinError
 from ...utils.misc import str2bool
 from ...utils.functions import (getsource, create_function_from_source)
 
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@
                     get_print_name, merge_dict, format_node)
 
 from .base import EngineBase
-from .nodes import MapNode
+from .nodes import MapNode, Node
 
 # Py2 compat: http://python-future.org/compatible_idioms.html#collections-counter-and-ordereddict
 from future import standard_library
@@ -1043,3 +1044,109 @@ def _get_dot(self,
                                                   vname1.replace('.', '_')))
                     logger.debug('cross connection: %s', dotlist[-1])
         return ('\n' + prefix).join(dotlist)
+
+    def add(self, name, node_like):
+        if is_interface(node_like):
+            node = Node(node_like, name=name)
+        elif is_node(node_like):
+            node = node_like
+
+        self.add_nodes([node])
+
+
+class Map(Node):
+    pass
+
+
+class Join(Node):
+    pass
+
+
+class MapState(object):
+    pass
+
+class NewNode(EngineBase):
+    def __init__(self, inputs={}, map_on=None, join_by=None,
+                 *args, **kwargs):
+        self._mappers = {}
+        self._joiners = {}
+
+    def map(self, field, values=None):
+        if isinstance(field, list):
+            for field_
+            if values is not None:
+                if len(values != len(field)):
+        elif isinstance(field, tuple):
+            pass
+        if values is None:
+            values = getattr(self._inputs, field)
+            if values is None:
+                raise MappingError('Cannot map unassigned input field')
+        self._mappers[field] = values
+
+    def join(self, field):
+        pass
+
+
+class NewWorkflow(NewNode):
+    def __init__(self, inputs={}, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(NewWorkflow, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        self._nodes = {}
+
+        mro = self.__class__.mro()
+        wf_klasses = mro[:mro.index(NewWorkflow)][::-1]
+        items = {}
+        for klass in wf_klasses:
+            items.update(klass.__dict__)
+        for name, runnable in items.items():
+            if name in ('__module__', '__doc__'):
+                continue
+
+            self.add(name, value)
+
+    def add(self, name, runnable):
+        if is_function(runnable):
+            node = Node(Function(function=runnable), name=name)
+        elif is_interface(runnable):
+            node = Node(runnable, name=name)
+        elif is_node(runnable):
+            node = runnable if runnable.name == name else runnable.clone(name=name)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("Unknown workflow element: {!r}".format(runnable))
+        setattr(self, name, node)
+        self._nodes[name] = node
+        self._last_added = name
+
+    def map(self, field, node=None, values=None):
+        if node is None:
+            if '.' in field:
+                node, field = field.rsplit('.', 1)
+            else:
+                node = self._last_added
+
+        if '.' in node:
+            subwf, node = node.split('.', 1)
+            self._nodes[subwf].map(field, node, values)
+            return
+
+        if node in self._mappers:
+            raise WorkflowError("Cannot assign two mappings to the same input")
+
+        self._mappers[node] = (field, values)
+
+    def join(self, field, node=None):
+        pass
+
+
+def is_function(obj):
+    return hasattr(obj, '__call__')
+
+
+def is_interface(obj):
+    return all(hasattr(obj, protocol)
+               for protocol in ('input_spec', 'output_spec', 'run'))
+
+
+def is_node(obj):
+    return hasattr(obj, itername)