Meet: Olivia Broome

We spoke with Olivia Broome, a graduate of London College of Communication, about her journey from studying journalism to running a successful Instagram account @brutalistplants, which has now been turned into a book.

The book delves into the connection between Brutalist architecture and plants and can now be purchased through Hoxton Mini Press.

Introduce yourself.

Hello! I'm Olivia! I'm British but grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, for most of my life. I came to London to study Journalism at London College of Communication (LCC) and have been working here ever since in various communications roles.

How did studying at UAL shape your career/creative practice?

The BA Journalism course at LCC really equipped me with many transferrable skills. I often think about the lessons on how to structure a good news story and how to write engaging copy. It seems less common that people follow in the path of their degrees nowadays, but I'm glad that I'm still linked to my time at UAL throughout my career.

What have you been up to since graduation?

I briefly moved back to Geneva to do a 3-month internship at the United Nations (UN). I felt like I wanted to work in humanitarian communications, but finding an entry-level role proved difficult. I came back to London to work for a Non-Governmetal Organization (NGO), then started working at London School of Economics and Political Science, where I still work now. At LSE I started as a Comms Assistant for a research centre, before moving to do student and staff internal communications. Just under a year ago I joined the social media team – I love learning more about how best to communicate to our audiences and ride with the changes in the social media landscape.

How was @brutalistplants born?

When Tumblr was still going strong, I had a few aesthetic blogs. When I noticed some images of brutalist monuments surrounded by plants, I liked them so much that I decided to create an Instagram account to bring together some of these pictures. It was in 2018. All of them are reposts, and I only started sharing them for my own enjoyment until other people started noticing my account and contributing to my feed. It's been going strong since then!

Your project @brutalistplants has now become a book. How does it feel to see your work printed on paper and was it in your plans to make it a book?

Not ashamed to say I cried when my copies arrived. It's still a bit surreal – I haven't been out to the Barbican or other places where it's stocked yet to see Brutalist Plants in the wild. However, I know it exists as my grandma has already found a copy at the Tate Modern! It's a weird feeling seeing a spreadsheet turn into a PDF, then turn into a book. I hope people love it as much as I do.

It wasn't my plan to make it into a book. I was playing with the idea of making t-shirts and prints until I got a message from someone who worked at Hoxton Mini Press who said the publisher would be keen to turn my Instagram into a photo book. And here we are!

Is there a project you’re particularly fond of?

There are some images in there which have a personal connection for me: La Tulipe which is a two-minute walk from my dad's house in Geneva, the National Theatre in London where I love to go for a glass of wine after work, and all the ex-Yugoslavian war monuments which made me want to start my account in the first place.

Any career advice you would like to share with future graduates?

Keep putting your work into the world and someone out there will latch onto it. You never know what might happen from how you inspire others. Bonus points if you can create a niche that fuses two things together - fusion is the future.

What’s next for you/@brutalistplants and where can we follow your work?

I'm hoping to have a launch party with family, friends, and contributors in July to celebrate the release (hopefully in a brutalist-style bar!). Then carry on promoting it and doing what it does best - share gorgeous, curated images of brutalism and the nature that surrounds it with the world.

You can follow @brutalistplants on Instagram or Threads, or follow me on X @Olivia_Broome.