Constructal theory applied to the area to point or point to area flow problems aims to decrease the global flow resistance by furnishing low resistive flow links in the flow area. Constructal theory expects to improve the flow performance by increasing the complexity of the low resistive flow links. This article reexamines three different applications of constructal theory. The reexamination shows that constructal theory will not necessarily improve the flow performance if the internal complexity of the flow area is increased. It also shows that the generality of constructal theory is highly questionable. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.