diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/2020-05-tac.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/2020-05-tac.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+Add API for composing semantic axes layouts from text or nested lists
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The `.Figure` class has a provisional method to generate complex grids
+of named `.axes.Axes` based on nested list input or ASCII art:
+
+.. plot::
+   :include-source: True
+
+   axd = plt.figure(constrained_layout=True).subplot_mosaic(
+     [["Top", "Top", "Edge"],
+      ["Left", ".",  "Edge"]]
+   )
+   for k, ax in axd.items():
+       ax.text(0.5, 0.5, k,
+               ha='center', va='center', fontsize=36,
+               color='darkgrey')
+
+or as a string (with single-character Axes labels):
+
+.. plot::
+   :include-source: True
+
+   axd = plt.figure(constrained_layout=True).subplot_mosaic(
+   """
+   TTE
+   L.E
+   """)
+   for k, ax in axd.items():
+       ax.text(0.5, 0.5, k,
+               ha='center', va='center', fontsize=36,
+               color='darkgrey')
+
+
+
+See :ref:`sphx_glr_tutorials_provisional_mosaic.py` for more
+details and examples.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_subplots.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_subplots.py
@@ -166,6 +166,23 @@ def _make_twin_axes(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self._twinned_axes.join(self, twin)
         return twin
 
+    def __repr__(self):
+        fields = []
+        if self.get_label():
+            fields += [f"label={self.get_label()!r}"]
+        titles = []
+        for k in ["left", "center", "right"]:
+            title = self.get_title(loc=k)
+            if title:
+                titles.append(f"{k!r}:{title!r}")
+        if titles:
+            fields += ["title={" + ",".join(titles) + "}"]
+        if self.get_xlabel():
+            fields += [f"xlabel={self.get_xlabel()!r}"]
+        if self.get_ylabel():
+            fields += [f"ylabel={self.get_ylabel()!r}"]
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__}:" + ", ".join(fields) + ">"
+
 
 # this here to support cartopy which was using a private part of the
 # API to register their Axes subclasses.

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     Control the default spacing between subplots.
 """
 
+import inspect
 import logging
 from numbers import Integral
 
@@ -1522,6 +1523,204 @@ def subplots(self, nrows=1, ncols=1, sharex=False, sharey=False,
                 .subplots(sharex=sharex, sharey=sharey, squeeze=squeeze,
                           subplot_kw=subplot_kw))
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _normalize_grid_string(layout):
+        layout = inspect.cleandoc(layout)
+        return [list(ln) for ln in layout.strip('\n').split('\n')]
+
+    def subplot_mosaic(self, layout, *, subplot_kw=None, gridspec_kw=None,
+                       empty_sentinel='.'):
+        """
+        Build a layout of Axes based on ASCII art or nested lists.
+
+        This is a helper function to build complex GridSpec layouts visually.
+
+        .. note ::
+
+           This API is provisional and may be revised in the future based on
+           early user feedback.
+
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        layout : list of list of {hashable or nested} or str
-        layout : list of list of {hashable or nested} or str
+        layout : list of list of {str or nested} or str
-        layout : list of list of {hashable or nested} or str
+        layout : list of list of {str or nested} or str
+
+            A visual layout of how you want your Axes to be arranged
+            labeled as strings.  For example ::
+
+               x = [['A panel', 'A panel', 'edge'],
+                    ['C panel', '.',       'edge']]
+
+            Produces 4 axes:
+
+            - 'A panel' which is 1 row high and spans the first two columns
+            - 'edge' which is 2 rows high and is on the right edge
+            - 'C panel' which in 1 row and 1 column wide in the bottom left
+            - a blank space 1 row and 1 column wide in the bottom center
+
+            Any of the entries in the layout can be a list of lists
+            of the same form to create nested layouts.
+
+            If input is a str, then it must be of the form ::
+
+              '''
+              AAE
+              C.E
+              '''
+
+            where each character is a column and each line is a row.
+            This only allows only single character Axes labels and does
+            not allow nesting but is very terse.
+
+        subplot_kw : dict, optional
+            Dictionary with keywords passed to the `.Figure.add_subplot` call
+            used to create each subplot.
+
+        gridspec_kw : dict, optional
+            Dictionary with keywords passed to the `.GridSpec` constructor used
+            to create the grid the subplots are placed on.
+
+        empty_sentinel : object, optional
+            Entry in the layout to mean "leave this space empty".  Defaults
+            to ``'.'``. Note, if *layout* is a string, it is processed via
+            `inspect.cleandoc` to remove leading white space, which may
+            interfere with using white-space as the empty sentinel.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        dict[label, Axes]
+           A dictionary mapping the labels to the Axes objects.
+
+        """
+        subplot_kw = subplot_kw or {}
+        gridspec_kw = gridspec_kw or {}
+        # special-case string input
+        if isinstance(layout, str):
+            layout = self._normalize_grid_string(layout)
+
+        def _make_array(inp):
+            """
+            Convert input into 2D array
+
+            We need to have this internal function rather than
+            ``np.asarray(..., dtype=object)`` so that a list of lists
+            of lists does not get converted to an array of dimension >
+            2
+
+            Returns
+            -------
+            2D object array
+
+            """
+            r0, *rest = inp
+            for j, r in enumerate(rest, start=1):
+                if len(r0) != len(r):
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        "All of the rows must be the same length, however "
+                        f"the first row ({r0!r}) has length {len(r0)} "
+                        f"and row {j} ({r!r}) has length {len(r)}."
+                    )
+            out = np.zeros((len(inp), len(r0)), dtype=object)
+            for j, r in enumerate(inp):
+                for k, v in enumerate(r):
+                    out[j, k] = v
+            return out
+
+        def _identify_keys_and_nested(layout):
+            """
+            Given a 2D object array, identify unique IDs and nested layouts
+
+            Parameters
+            ----------
+            layout : 2D numpy object array
+
+            Returns
+            -------
+            unique_ids : Set[object]
+                The unique non-sub layout entries in this layout
+            nested : Dict[Tuple[int, int]], 2D object array
+            """
+            unique_ids = set()
+            nested = {}
+            for j, row in enumerate(layout):
+                for k, v in enumerate(row):
+                    if v == empty_sentinel:
+                        continue
+                    elif not cbook.is_scalar_or_string(v):
+                        nested[(j, k)] = _make_array(v)
+                    else:
+                        unique_ids.add(v)
+
+            return unique_ids, nested
+
+        def _do_layout(gs, layout, unique_ids, nested):
+            """
+            Recursively do the layout.
+
+            Parameters
+            ----------
+            gs : GridSpec
+
+            layout : 2D object array
+                The input converted to a 2D numpy array for this level.
+
+            unique_ids : Set[object]
+                The identified scalar labels at this level of nesting.
+
+            nested : Dict[Tuple[int, int]], 2D object array
+                The identified nested layouts if any.
+
+            Returns
+            -------
+            Dict[label, Axes]
+                A flat dict of all of the Axes created.
+            """
+            rows, cols = layout.shape
+            output = dict()
+
+            # create the Axes at this level of nesting
+            for name in unique_ids:
+                indx = np.argwhere(layout == name)
+                start_row, start_col = np.min(indx, axis=0)
+                end_row, end_col = np.max(indx, axis=0) + 1
+                slc = (slice(start_row, end_row), slice(start_col, end_col))
+
+                if (layout[slc] != name).any():
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        f"While trying to layout\n{layout!r}\n"
+                        f"we found that the label {name!r} specifies a "
+                        "non-rectangular or non-contiguous area.")
+
+                ax = self.add_subplot(
+                    gs[slc], **{'label': str(name), **subplot_kw}
+                )
+                output[name] = ax
+
+            # do any sub-layouts
+            for (j, k), nested_layout in nested.items():
+                rows, cols = nested_layout.shape
+                nested_output = _do_layout(
+                    gs[j, k].subgridspec(rows, cols, **gridspec_kw),
+                    nested_layout,
+                    *_identify_keys_and_nested(nested_layout)
+                )
+                overlap = set(output) & set(nested_output)
+                if overlap:
+                    raise ValueError(f"There are duplicate keys {overlap} "
+                                     f"between the outer layout\n{layout!r}\n"
+                                     f"and the nested layout\n{nested_layout}")
+                output.update(nested_output)
+            return output
+
+        layout = _make_array(layout)
+        rows, cols = layout.shape
+        gs = self.add_gridspec(rows, cols, **gridspec_kw)
+        ret = _do_layout(gs, layout, *_identify_keys_and_nested(layout))
+        for k, ax in ret.items():
+            if isinstance(k, str):
+                ax.set_label(k)
+        return ret
+
     def delaxes(self, ax):
         """
         Remove the `~.axes.Axes` *ax* from the figure; update the current axes.

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -1274,6 +1274,87 @@ def subplots(nrows=1, ncols=1, sharex=False, sharey=False, squeeze=True,
     return fig, axs
 
 
+def subplot_mosaic(layout, *, subplot_kw=None, gridspec_kw=None,
+                   empty_sentinel='.', **fig_kw):
+    """
+    Build a layout of Axes based on ASCII art or nested lists.
+
+    This is a helper function to build complex GridSpec layouts visually.
+
+    .. note ::
+
+       This API is provisional and may be revised in the future based on
+       early user feedback.
+
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    layout : list of list of {hashable or nested} or str
+
+        A visual layout of how you want your Axes to be arranged
+        labeled as strings.  For example ::
+
+           x = [['A panel', 'A panel', 'edge'],
+                ['C panel', '.',       'edge']]
+
+        Produces 4 axes:
+
+        - 'A panel' which is 1 row high and spans the first two columns
+        - 'edge' which is 2 rows high and is on the right edge
+        - 'C panel' which in 1 row and 1 column wide in the bottom left
+        - a blank space 1 row and 1 column wide in the bottom center
+
+        Any of the entries in the layout can be a list of lists
+        of the same form to create nested layouts.
+
+        If input is a str, then it must be of the form ::
+
+          '''
+          AAE
+          C.E
+          '''
+
+        where each character is a column and each line is a row.
+        This only allows only single character Axes labels and does
+        not allow nesting but is very terse.
+
+    subplot_kw : dict, optional
+        Dictionary with keywords passed to the `.Figure.add_subplot` call
+        used to create each subplot.
+
+    gridspec_kw : dict, optional
+        Dictionary with keywords passed to the `.GridSpec` constructor used
+        to create the grid the subplots are placed on.
+
+    empty_sentinel : object, optional
+        Entry in the layout to mean "leave this space empty".  Defaults
+        to ``'.'``. Note, if *layout* is a string, it is processed via
+        `inspect.cleandoc` to remove leading white space, which may
+        interfere with using white-space as the empty sentinel.
+
+    **fig_kw
+        All additional keyword arguments are passed to the
+        `.pyplot.figure` call.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    fig : `~.figure.Figure`
+       The new figure
+
+    dict[label, Axes]
+       A dictionary mapping the labels to the Axes objects.
+
+    """
+    fig = figure(**fig_kw)
+    ax_dict = fig.subplot_mosaic(
+        layout,
+        subplot_kw=subplot_kw,
+        gridspec_kw=gridspec_kw,
+        empty_sentinel=empty_sentinel
+    )
+    return fig, ax_dict
+
+
 def subplot2grid(shape, loc, rowspan=1, colspan=1, fig=None, **kwargs):
     """
     Create a subplot at a specific location inside a regular grid.