diff --git a/spec/workspace-spec.coffee b/spec/workspace-spec.coffee
index f95910d01..45452dca3 100644
--- a/spec/workspace-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/workspace-spec.coffee
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 Workspace = require '../src/workspace'
+{View} = require '../src/space-pen-extensions'
 
 describe "Workspace", ->
   workspace = null
@@ -7,6 +8,49 @@ describe "Workspace", ->
     atom.project.setPath(atom.project.resolve('dir'))
     atom.workspace = workspace = new Workspace
 
+  describe "::getView(object)", ->
+    describe "when passed a DOM node", ->
+      it "returns the given DOM node", ->
+        node = document.createElement('div')
+        expect(workspace.getView(node)).toBe node
+
+    describe "when passed a SpacePen view", ->
+      it "returns the root node of the view with a __spacePenView property pointing at the SpacePen view", ->
+        class TestView extends View
+          @content: -> @div "Hello"
+
+        view = new TestView
+        node = workspace.getView(view)
+        expect(node.textContent).toBe "Hello"
+        expect(node.__spacePenView).toBe view
+
+    describe "when passed a model object", ->
+      describe "when no view provider is registered for the object's constructor", ->
+        describe "when the object has a .getViewClass() method", ->
+          it "builds an instance of the view class with the model, then returns its root node with a __spacePenView property pointing at the view", ->
+            class TestView extends View
+              @content: (model) -> @div model.name
+              initialize: (@model) ->
+
+            class TestModel
+              constructor: (@name) ->
+              getViewClass: -> TestView
+
+            model = new TestModel("hello")
+            node = workspace.getView(model)
+
+            expect(node.textContent).toBe "hello"
+            view = node.__spacePenView
+            expect(view instanceof TestView).toBe true
+            expect(view.model).toBe model
+
+            # returns the same DOM node for repeated calls
+            expect(workspace.getView(model)).toBe node
+
+        describe "when the object has no .getViewClass() method", ->
+          it "throws an exception", ->
+            expect(-> workspace.getView(new Object)).toThrow()
+
   describe "::open(uri, options)", ->
     openEvents = null
 
diff --git a/src/workspace.coffee b/src/workspace.coffee
index 76450181b..8c0bedf10 100644
--- a/src/workspace.coffee
+++ b/src/workspace.coffee
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Delegator = require 'delegato'
 Editor = require './editor'
 PaneContainer = require './pane-container'
 Pane = require './pane'
+{jQuery} = require './space-pen-extensions'
 
 # Essential: Represents the state of the user interface for the entire window.
 # An instance of this class is available via the `atom.workspace` global.
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ class Workspace extends Model
     super
 
     @emitter = new Emitter
+    @viewsByModel = new WeakMap
     @openers = []
 
     @paneContainer.onDidDestroyPaneItem(@onPaneItemDestroyed)
@@ -488,3 +490,23 @@ class Workspace extends Model
   # Called by Model superclass when destroyed
   destroyed: ->
     @paneContainer.destroy()
+
+  getView: (object) ->
+    if view = @viewsByModel.get(object)
+      view
+    else if object instanceof HTMLElement
+      object
+    else if object instanceof jQuery
+      object[0].__spacePenView ?= object
+      object[0]
+    else
+      @createView(object)
+
+  createView: (model) ->
+    if viewClass = model?.getViewClass?()
+      view = new viewClass(model)
+      @viewsByModel.set(model, view[0])
+      view[0].__spacePenView ?= view
+      view[0]
+    else
+      throw new Error("Can't create a view for #{object.constructor.name} instance. Please register a view provider.")