I don't think they are psuedoscience, but it might be that architecture is an unusual case.
With other art forms, yes they use these rules, but there's also things like line, texture, color, and other rules that disguise or soften them. With architecture, I think they don't have much technique to do so, and the symmetry, golden ratio, etc, come through much stronger. Many of the examples he gave in his blog of good symmetry were actually fairly boring houses, and the problem with too much symmetry is a boring picture.
I mean the rules work, but in functional forms like houses, you have less ability to make them visually interesting overall. The McMansions might be the same principle in opposite-there isn't enough to make the non-symmetrical, almost abstract design less chaotic while keeping the visual interest.
With other art forms, yes they use these rules, but there's also things like line, texture, color, and other rules that disguise or soften them. With architecture, I think they don't have much technique to do so, and the symmetry, golden ratio, etc, come through much stronger. Many of the examples he gave in his blog of good symmetry were actually fairly boring houses, and the problem with too much symmetry is a boring picture.
I mean the rules work, but in functional forms like houses, you have less ability to make them visually interesting overall. The McMansions might be the same principle in opposite-there isn't enough to make the non-symmetrical, almost abstract design less chaotic while keeping the visual interest.