Do we really need pantographic structures?

This chapter attempts to provide a comprehensive answer to the challenging question: do we really need pantographic structures? This question may arise spontaneously given the recent proliferation of contributions on this type of metamaterial in the literature. A reasoned answer to this question may be crucial for the future development and orientation of research concerning this metamaterial. More generally, we show the context from which the studies that led to the development of pantographic structures originated and observe how an excessively orthodox view of Continuum Mechanics may prevent interesting developments. Within the framework of generalised theories and second-gradient models, pantographic structures assume an important role.