This volume is the proceedings of the 10th biennial Nordes conference, hosted by Linköping University, 12 – 14 June 2023. All contributions relate in different ways to the overall theme, ‘This Space Intentionally Left [Blank]’.

A blank space—a silence, pause, interstice, gap, in-between, opening, punctuation, negative space—can be deliberately or incidentally devoid of content. A space left blank is as much an invitation to notice the void and the structure that surrounds it, as it is a question as to why and how they are perceived. Such absence can remind us to seek out conscious or unconscious intentions hidden in plain sight. Philosophies and worldviews that acknowled- ge the importance of ‘absence’, ‘emptiness’ or ‘nothingness’ consider everything to be relational, fluid, dynamic and ‘in-between’, rather than the binary dualism that linger from Cartesian constructs. Do we pay these blank spaces enough attention, as integrated parts of design practice and design research?