The shape of cellular membranes can be induced by in situ transmembrane proteins as well as by peripheral proteins. Membrane sculpting is a dynamic process and few, if any, experimental methods can capture it. However, molecular dynamics simulations can reveal the process in atomic detail as local membrane bending, once the protein components are in place, occurs within microseconds or faster. Two cases will be discussed.Purple bacteria develop pseudo-organelles made of photosynthetic membranes that are spherically shaped (diameter 70 nm) in some species while they are flat in other species. The main molecular component of the membranes are transmembrane proteins, namely light-harvesting protein LH1 complexed with reaction centers and light-harvesting protein LH2. Simulations in combination with crystallography, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and spectroscopy provide a close-up view of membrane sculpting by these photosynthetic transmembrane proteins while also offering an explanation of the geometrical and physical principles at work.The sculpting strategy of N-BAR and F-BAR domains, which have been observed in vitro to form tubular membranes from vesicles, has also been revealed in simulations. A combination of coarse-grained and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that these peripheral proteins, in forming regular lattices as observed by electron microscopy, bend flat membranes into tubes which remain stable even after the proteins are removed. The simulations also revealed that certain protein-lipid interactions are responsible for membrane bending. While the highly regular BAR domain latices seen under in vitro conditions are likely artifactual, the simulations suggest that the proteins work in localized teams in vivo as well.Membrane sculpting poses a fascinating conceptual challenge to biophysicists as an explanation of the process needs to link physical properties at a wide range of time and length scales.