I present recent advances in the understanding of how inter-protein forces, notably those propagated by the elastic membrane (depletion forces, hydrophobic mismatch forces, wetting forces, forces of entropic origin, etc.), shape the plasma membrane by promoting the existence of nanodomains in thermodynamical equilibrium. By modulating short-range affinities of different protein species, I show how these domains become specialized on the biological level by aggregating few protein species. I also discuss how thermodynamic equilibrium is affected when membrane-recycling is switched on, thus driving the membrane out of equilibrium.